


Start Again

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville
Genre: 33.1, AU, Attempted mugging, Bestest Cousins, Caught in the Act, Clark is Superman, Clark needs to mind his own business, Drinking, Drunk buying things, Extramarital Affairs, F/M, Fingering, Friendship, Green Arrow to the rescue, Guilt, Hurt Chloe, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Oliver Queen, JLA - Freeform, Jimmy didn't die, Jimmy knows about Clark, Jimmy's kind of a dick, Missions, Morning Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Oral Sex, Protective Lois Lane, Rooftop Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Storms, Unhealthy marriage, Verbal Abuse, blowjob, the Daily Planet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:07:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 61,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24082564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: After not seeing each other in years, Oliver decides to move back to Metropolis and ends up changing Chloe's life.Post-Doomsday AU.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Cat Grant, James "Jimmy" Olsen/Chloe Sullivan, Lois Lane/Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe smoothed her hands over her dress as they made their way through the parking lot of the convention center, sighing as she looked up and saw her husband feet ahead of her already. She rolled her eyes and shook her head but didn't say anything, just followed him to the elevators that would take him up to the roof of the building, where a Daily Planet event was being held, a very secret event, apparently, that not even the employees knew what exactly it was about.

Not that _she_ herself was an employee. Lex Luthor had made sure of that and even now that he'd been dead for years, Tess Mercer, the current Editor, still refused to hire her, no matter how qualified she was. No, she wasn't working for the Planet, but her best friend, her cousin and her husband all were. Which was why she was able to attend Planet functions like this, no reason beyond that, no matter how hard she tried.

"How long are you planning on staying?" She asked her husband quietly so the other people who were entering the elevator too wouldn't hear her.

Jimmy turned his head to look at her, frowning. "For the allotted time," he said.

She frowned back at him and nodded, "Clark can give you a ride back if I need to leave early."

He shook his head a little. "Why would you need to leave early, Chlo?"

Chloe pursed her lips together, "I don't have tomorrow off like the rest of you, remember?" The Metropolis Star, a much smaller newspaper and her current employer was understaffed and Chloe had been working weekends for the past couple of months, not that she minded, at least it kept her busy.

"I'm sure the party won't run _that_ late. Besides, maybe if you demonstrate your love for the Planet, Ms. Mercer will give your application another consideration," he said with a small smile. "Get you out of the Star."

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little and took a deep breath, trying for a smile too, "I guess I don't have much to lose."

"Nope," he agreed, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to his side, smiling at the other people in the elevator.

She leaned into him out of habit, and remained silent until the elevator reached its destination, standing up straight as the doors slid open and everyone started making their way out into the room.

Jimmy glanced around, and spotted Clark across the room almost instantly. "Oh! There's CK." He kissed her cheek. "I'm gonna go say hi." Without waiting for her to respond, he disappeared into the crowd.

Chloe had to do her best to stop from rolling her eyes as Jimmy disappeared, sometimes she could swear he had a radar and he could always spot Clark, no matter where he was. As a waitress passed, she picked up a glass of champagne from the tray then started to make her way through the crowd as well, trying to find her cousin, at least it would be a welcomed familiar face.

Lois Lane was chatting with a coworker when she spotted her cousin, alone. She quickly excused herself and made her way over to the younger blond. "There's my favorite person." She grinned at Chloe.

"Hey," Chloe said with a smile, looking over Lois as she approached her, "you look amazing, Lo."

"So do you. It's in the genes." Her grin brightened a little more.

With a sip of her drink, Chloe shook her head a little, "so you really don't know what today is all about?"

She sighed heavily, taking the glass from Chloe and taking a drink as well before handing it back. "Not a clue. And I've been snooping for days."

"If you couldn't get it out of anyone, I don't think the rest of us stand a chance, Ms. Star Reporter." Chloe teased a little and took another sip from her drink.

Lois grinned a bit. "I don't know. I think you could give me a run for my money, Cuz." She glanced around. "But you know who I _don't_ see here?"

"Who?" Chloe asked curiously, ignoring Lois' previous comment.

"Tess Mercer," Lois informed her, raising an eyebrow. "Something tells me someone else is behind this little shindig. Someone with a lot of money, and class." She looked around the room.

"This does look a couple of notches fancier than the Planet's usual parties," Chloe agreed, taking another sip, "it's not your _boyfriend_ , is it?"

She smiled at that. "Not even Bruce Wayne could keep a secret from me."

Nodding, Chloe took a deep breath and looked around the room once more, "I didn't think he could."

"Which begs the question who's behind this." Lois searched the crowd, her eyes passing over familiar faces and less familiar ones, though she was sure she didn't see anyone who could afford to put on such an affair.

Shaking her head, Chloe scanned the crowd too, except the faces weren't as familiar for her, "I don't know," there was a loud, brief microphone static through the speakers, "but I guess we're about to find out." 

"Guess so," she agreed, grabbing hold of Chloe's arm and pulling her closer to the small stage that had been set up.

A moment later, a man stepped onto the stage and looked around, appearing a little intimidated. "I'm sure you're wondering why you were all invited to this gathering, and who's behind it," he said with a small smile. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "As of three days ago, The Daily Planet came under new management."

Lois raised an eyebrow and looked at her cousin with interest before turning to look at the man once more.

Chloe arched her eyebrows too and pursed her lips together, she didn't know why but she was suddenly nervous. Tess Mercer wasn't there. There was someone else in charge and her gut was telling her that this was big. Her first thought was that Lex Luthor was, somehow, back from the grave. There were very few people around the world who were powerful enough to take something from someone like Tess.

"Enough with the formalities. I'll let the man of the hour do the rest of the talking." He stepped aside and a second later, a tall blond man stepped onto the stage and Lois stared in shock.

Blinking, Chloe's eyes widened as she watched someone who she hadn't seen or spoken to in years, but she recognized the face instantly because _that_ was a familiar face for her, "Oliver?" She mumbled, glancing at her cousin then back at the small stage. Why would he do that, why would he buy the Daily Planet? Oliver had never had an interest in the media, other than dodging it...

For a moment Oliver just gazed out at the crowd, not surprised by the sudden silence in the room, though the expression on his face was somewhere between uncertainty and seriousness. "I hope it's quiet because you're all so overwhelmed with excitement that I've rendered you speechless," he joked, glancing around.

Chloe had to check to make sure her mouth wasn't actually hanging open. Oliver was probably the very last person she'd expected to see up on that stage, announcing he'd purchased the Daily Planet of all papers. As he went on with his speech, all she could do was stare. He was charming as usual, but even after all this time, and she might be reading him wrong, she had the feeling that none of his smiles were authentic. Of course, she'd never really seen him addressing the public live before and maybe it was just because he was nervous.

"When did I get drunk enough that I passed out and started having this really bizarre dream that Oliver Queen, of all people, bought the Daily Planet?" Lois asked, shaking her head.

"I don't know," Chloe murmured, her eyes still on the man in question, "but whatever it was you drank, I had some of it too."

"I hope to get to know all of you in the near future," Oliver said, concluding his speech and smiling once more before stepping off the stage.

"Did that... actually just happen?" Chloe asked, her voice going back to normal as the music started once more and every single person in the crowd resumed their conversation, well the ones who weren't too shocked to speak.

"Pretty sure it did," Lois confirmed, grabbing her cousin's arm. "Come on. Let's go say hi."

"Lois, wait," Chloe did her best to protest even as she was dragged through the room faster than Jimmy had moved away when he spotted Clark.

Oliver had just grabbed one of the glasses of champagne, downing about half of it before he found himself face-to-face with Lois Lane and Chloe Sullivan. His stomach knotted almost instantly, though he smiled at them. "Ladies," he greeted them.

Lois made a dismissive noise. "Ladies? You do remember who we are, right? I know it's been awhile, but you and I once dated and I'm pretty sure you remember Chloe considering she worked with you for awhile." 

Chloe took a deep breath too and glanced away, then back at Oliver. She knew he remembered them, of course, not that she thought he would have forgotten, but the expression on his face as soon as he turned told her as much.

"I haven't forgotten," he said quietly, a little caught off guard when Lois wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He smiled a bit, patting her lightly on the back and looking at Chloe for a moment. "Hey." 

"Hey," she murmured at him, offering him a soft smile and watching as her cousin finally let go of the poor man, "this is... pretty unexpected news for everyone in this room, I think."

"It was unexpected for me, too," he said with a small, almost sheepish smile.

Lois raised an eyebrow. "You accidently bought the most famous newspaper in the country? Oops," she said sarcastically.

Chloe couldn't help but smirk a little at her cousin then she turned her attention back to Oliver, "really, that doesn't exactly just happen."

"It does if you've had entirely too much whiskey," he informed her with a smirk.

"Huh, whiskey?" Chloe shook her head a little, "I hope you didn't lose too much money in your drunk adventures."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Just the 586 million it cost to buy the Planet from Tess Mercer."

A frown crossed Chloe's expression but was quickly replaced by a neutral, soft smile as she raised her eyebrows, "drinking whiskey with Tess Mercer? Sounds like a dangerous situation all together."

He shrugged a little, not quite meeting her eyes. "Well, she did a hurl a knife at my head shortly after, but I have good reflexes."

Chloe glanced over at her cousin then looked back at him, "good thing you do."

Lois frowned at the admission and glanced sideways at Chloe. "What brought you back to Metropolis anyway?" she asked curiously.

Oliver shrugged once more. "Had some business to tie up with the Metropolis branch of Q.I."

Once again, Chloe frowned and she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the story, more like a team kind of reason why Oliver was back in town. Of course, she wouldn't know what they'd been up to, she hadn't exactly kept in touch with them since Davis' death.

"Well, you're not slipping away without a word this time," Lois informed him. "We should all go out to dinner tomorrow night, catch up."

"I think that's a great idea," Chloe agreed, nodding, although she had the feeling dinner would not include Clark or his new girlfriend and possibly not even her husband.

Oliver hesitated a moment, then took a drink of his champagne. "All right, dinner it is."

Chloe watched him for a moment, all too aware that he was uncomfortable, "we should probably let you go, I'm sure a lot of your new employees want to talk to you."

"You may be the only two," he said with a small smile, shrugging as he finally met her eyes.

"Well, only one of us works for you," Chloe reminded him.

He paused, frowning a little. "You didn't come back to the Planet?"

She shook her head and raised her eyebrows, "I don't know if you remember but Tess Mercer isn't exactly my BFF."

His frown deepened. "Neither is Lois," he pointed out. "I just assumed..."

"She _should_ be back here. This is where she belongs," Lois cut in. "Tess Mercer was just a biased hack of an editor and refused to rehire her because of her love for Lex Luthor."

Oliver winced slightly, dropping his gaze at the mention of Lex. "Right," he murmured.

Chloe looked away too and sighed softly before holding on to Lois' arm, "C'mon Lo, we should let him go, we'll talk more tomorrow," she told her cousin, glancing over at Oliver, she didn't want to talk about Lex around him, she was still keeping that particular secret.

"Chloe." Oliver's voice was quiet.

She stilled and tried for a smile, "we'll see you tomorrow."

"Tess isn't the editor-in-chief anymore," he said softly.

Her heart skipped a beat and she looked at him for a long moment before she spoke again, "then who is?"

He smiled faintly, although this time it was at least a genuine smile. "Me."

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little, "you? Are you sure you have enough time?"

"Not really, no," he admitted with a slight shrug. "But I like to stay busy."

She nodded a little and watched him for a moment longer before smiling a little, "is this your way of telling me I should fill out an application?"

Oliver smiled back at her, holding her gaze. "Please do."

With a deep breath, she glanced over at her cousin then held Oliver's gaze again, "as soon as I get home."

"Look forward to getting it," he told her.

Lois grinned brightly, wrapping her arm around Chloe's waist. "And when you rehire her, can we have side-by-side desks, please?"

Oliver smiled, shaking his head a little. "I'll see you two tomorrow night."

"See you tomorrow," Chloe told him, this time, actually giving him a sincere smile, "and thanks."

"See you," he echoed softly.


	2. Chapter 2

Oliver had arrived early after making reservations for a table at Bijou's, one of the most popular French restaurants in Metropolis, and he had managed to drink down a glass of wine to help calm his nerves before Chloe and Lois arrived...with Jimmy. 

On second thought, he suddenly wished he'd had at least another glass or two of the stuff, especially considering the look the younger man was giving him as the three of them approached the table. 

Great.

"The man you're glaring at is your new boss, Jimmy," Chloe murmured to him, she really had been hoping he wouldn't have wanted to come, but he refused to stay behind, even when Chloe suggested guy time with Clark, " _try_ to be nice?"

"Yeah, I'll try to be nice to the man who stabbed my best friend in the back," he responded, "I don't get why you and Lois want to socialize with him."

Lois shot him a warning look. "Olsen, that was ages ago, and if you consider the facts, Ollie was trying to help save the city, _and_ Chloe."

"Forget it, Lo. Clark is still mad at him, Jimmy feels like he has to be too," Chloe said, glancing at her husband and ignoring the glare he was giving her now before stepping forward toward the table where Oliver sat by himself.

Oliver smiled at her. "Chloe," he said, nodding.

"Hey," she said, smiling softly at him doing her best to ignore the fact that Jimmy had just wrapped a possessive arm around her waist.

He shifted his gaze to meet the younger man's eyes, and rose to his feet, nodding. "Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded at Oliver before letting go of Chloe and taking the seat the furthest away from the other man.

Oliver noticed his actions, but didn't comment, smiling faintly at Lois, who sat down on one side of him, kissing his cheek in greeting.

Lois glanced at her cousin with a smile.

Chloe took the seat across from Oliver and next to Jimmy's, she smiled a little at her cousin as she settled her purse on the chair behind her before turning to look at Oliver again, "how was your first day?"

"Hectic," he told her with a small smile, meeting her eyes. "But I got your resume and application. When can you start?"

She blinked, raising her eyebrow as she looked at him, "really?" While she knew Oliver had the power to do that, she didn't even know if the Planet had any openings. Regardless her heart was beating fast as she watched him.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said, nodding.

"Just like that?" Jimmy spoke up, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't even interview her."

Chloe started grinning at Oliver then glanced over at Jimmy, raising her eyebrows, "it's not like Oliver doesn't know my work, Jimmy."

"Chloe should never have been terminated from the Planet to begin with," Oliver said with a slight shrug.

Lois grinned. "Damn right."

Jimmy raised his eyebrows and shook his head a little, "just because she knows you doesn't mean she should skip the process. People will get suspicious."

Oliver paused, his jaw tightening ever-so-slightly, though it was barely noticeable. "Good thing for me that I've never really cared what people think."

"The only person who will talk," Chloe pointed out, "is Cat Grant and I've made it clear before that I could care less about what she thinks."

Lois pursed her lips. "No one cares what she thinks. Everyone knows she's nothing but a two bit gossip mongered anyway."

"You shouldn't say things like that about her just because you're jealous, Lois." Jimmy said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Enough," Chloe said tightly, looking sideways at Jimmy.

Lois narrowed her eyes, leaning across the table and glaring hard at Jimmy. "Jealous? Because she's a hack writer still stuck in the basement? Right. That makes sense."

"Who's Cat Grant?" Oliver interrupted, hoping to help diffuse the tension.

"The gossip columnist," Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

"CK's girl," Jimmy added.

He blinked a couple of times. "Clark's dating a gossip columnist?" He leaned back in his chair. "Didn't see _that_ coming."

"She is working as one right now, she is a reporter just like the two of them," Jimmy added, glancing between Chloe and Lois.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Real reporting isn't about speculating who Tom Cruise is sleeping around with. Anyone can do that."

"You're just jealous, Lois. Everyone has to start somewhere, not everyone can just sleep with the editor." Jimmy said, his own jaw tight.

"Jimmy," Chloe said evenly, turning in her chair so she could look at him, "if you're going to keep insulting my cousin, I suggest you leave."

At that, Lois's face turned red and her jaw tightened. "You're a _pig_ ," she informed him, rising to her feet.

"Don't bother," Jimmy said, standing too, his eyes narrowing at Lois, "not hard to tell whose side you _two_ are on, hope he stabs you in the back too." After glaring at Lois and Chloe, Jimmy pushed his chair back and walked out.

Oliver winced at that and looked down at the table, sighing inaudibly and picking up his glass of wine, downing half of it in one gulp.

"Good riddance!" Lois called after him, not willing to let him have the last word.

Chloe sighed deeply and rubbed her hands over her face before looking at Oliver, "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," he said quietly, not looking at her.

"No, it's his and he's a jackass," Lois said bitterly, sitting down once more.

Chloe glanced over at her cousin but didn't say anything, she knew Jimmy and Lois got on each others' nerves more often than not, which had been one of the reasons why she didn't want him to come in the first place, but having them do this in front of Oliver, right after he had offered her a chance to get back to the Planet was mortifying. And she didn't blame Lois for the situation.

"Sorry," she muttered, glancing across the table at Chloe and sinking back into her chair.

Chloe just shook her head a little at Lois and looked back at Oliver, "we could reschedule, if you'd be more comfortable with that."

Oliver glanced at Chloe and offered her a small smile. "It's all right. Unless you two would rather reschedule."

She shook her head and glanced at Lois then returned Oliver's small smile, "I think we're okay." Besides, the last thing she wanted right now was to go back home. 

"Why don't we order?" he suggested, sliding the menu over to her. 

Chloe smiled gratefully at him and took the menu then nodded, opening it and reading it slowly, mostly to calm herself down and to stop herself from thinking of all the things she wanted to say to Jimmy when she got home.

He watched her for a moment, then glanced over at Lois, who was most definitely sulking. "Lois, you hungry? Or should we start out with some drinks?"

"Drinks," Lois said without hesitation.

Chloe kicked Lois gently under the table, "stop sulking, then. I don't want to deal with a depressed drunk later in the evening." She teased, mostly to try and lighten the mood.

Oliver glanced between them. "Besides, we have catching up to do, right? I'm sure there are a ton of Sullivan-Lane adventures I need to hear about." He smiled faintly.

"And a lot of them you don't," Chloe told him, smiling a little and willing herself to relax.

He raised his eyebrows at that, a grin forming on his face as he looked at her. "But those are generally the most entertaining ones." 

"Exactly." Lois smirked at him.

"I don't even know where to begin," Chloe said, sitting up and leaning her elbows over the table.

"Yeah, considering your absentee status for the past two and a half years. You don't call, you don't write. What gives, Queen?" Lois raised an eyebrow.

Pursing her lips together, Chloe raised her eyebrows too and looked at Oliver curiously, "you must have some pretty interesting stories too."

"Not really," he said quietly. "But I am sorry I didn't stay in touch." He looked up and met Chloe's eyes.

"Despite Lois' accusations," Chloe said, smiling a little and holding his gaze, "it goes both ways."

Lois looked between them for a moment, an intrigued expression on her face. "Well, we just won't make the same mistake twice. Bygones and all that." She leaned forward. "Plus if you're editor-in-chief I'm assuming that means you'll be around for awhile?" 

He glanced at her and nodded slightly. "For awhile," he said softly.

"Awhile is a start," Chloe said, smiling softly, "but I have to say, I'm a little surprised you are willingly working at a newspaper."

Oliver looked at Chloe once more. "We'll see how it goes," he said, a smile tugging at his lips. "Besides, maybe being behind the news would be better than being the news for a change."

"Speaking of being the news, I haven't seen much about you lately," Lois said pointedly.

"You have been keeping it quiet," Chloe agreed. She always looked for news on him and his alter ego as well as the rest of the team.

Oliver picked up his glass of wine, smiling faintly before finishing it off. "Maybe I'm just getting a little too old to keep playing the role of billionaire playboy." He glanced at Lois. "Especially when another guy has that market cornered even better than me, although I did hear he's off the market these days." Of course he knew they were more curious about the Green Arrow, but he was content to play dumb for the time being.

"Oh, yes," Chloe perked up, raising her eyebrows, "we should talk about Bruce Wayne."

"And he is very much off the market, thank you very much," Lois added, smirking.

"Well, he's a lucky guy." Oliver smiled at her. "And he's treating you well?"

"He's a good guy," Lois told him with a nod.

Chloe smiled softly, watching her cousin then shrugging, "I have yet to meet him, but I'm sure you can give me some insight, Oliver, tell me if you think he is good enough for my cousin."

Oliver met Chloe's eyes once more. "He is a good guy," he said softly. "A lot better than the media tends to make him out to be." He paused. "We went to Excelsior together, but he was a year ahead of me."

"Oh!" It was Lois' turn to perk up, "stories, tell me all of them, I need blackmail."

Chloe laughed softly and shook her head, raising her eyebrows at her cousin, "what do you wanna blackmail him for?"

"Cousin, if you've never had blackmail sex, you're seriously missing out," Lois said, giving Chloe a look.

Oliver nearly choked on the drink of wine he'd just taken.

Chloe's eyes widened a little and she shook her head at her cousin, "remember that TMI thing we talked about, Lo?"

Lois chuckled, grinning brightly. "We're all good friends. There's no such thing as TMI."

Raising an eyebrow, Chloe looked at Oliver, "I'd apologize for her, but you know what to expect with this one."

He smirked a little at that, raising his own eyebrows. "I'd momentarily forgotten. But thanks for the reminder."

"You're welcome," Chloe said, smiling at him, amused then shaking her head at her cousin, "and you haven't even started drinking yet."

"Just wait," Lois responded with a smirk of her own.

Shaking her head, Chloe smirked and turned her attention back down to the menu. She knew she was going to have to deal with Jimmy when she got home, but for now, she wasn't thinking about that, she was actually relaxed, having a good time with old friends and she couldn't remember the last time she had done that.

* * *

"Ooh boy. I...shouldn't have had that last tequila." Lois grimaced, then blinked a few times.

Oliver frowned a little, watching her with concern. "Maybe we should get you home."

She held up a hand and stood up a little unsteadily. "Thank you very much Green Wonder but I am fully capable of hailing a taxi for myself."

"Seriously, Lo, I will come with you." Chloe said, looking at her cousin worriedly as she held on to Lois' hand to steady her.

Lois made a face. "Nope. I like to pray to the porcelain goddess by myself."

Oliver grimaced a little, rising to his feet and looking concerned. "Seriously, it's not a big deal."

She rolled her eyes. "I will be fine. I've been way more drunk than this and still kicked ass." She looked at Chloe. "You two stay, talk some more. It's early...somewhere. Probably."

Chloe glanced at Oliver and pursed her lips together, she did want to ask him more about the Planet since they didn't have a chance to go over the details, "text me as soon as you get home, okay?"

"Aie aie Skipper." Lois grinned brightly, saluting her and then heading away, toward the door.

She kept her eyes on her cousin until she was out the door then sat back down and smiled a little at Oliver, "I'm guessing she's exactly the same as she was last time you saw her?"

"Glad that some things don't change," he responded, glancing at her sideways.

"Lois is pretty much a constant," she agreed, taking a sip of her wine. Admittedly, she was well on her way to drunk, but she didn't care because Jimmy had taken the car so she would be taking a cab home anyway.

Oliver was quiet for a moment and then he sat down beside her once more.

Chloe looked down at her glass for a moment then turned her head to look at Oliver, smiling softly, her eyes a little heavy because of the alcohol, "should I really resign first thing in the morning?"

He smiled faintly. "I think you're the only one who can answer that question, Chloe." His voice was quiet.

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, "it's not a question, I've been trying to get back in the Planet for two years, if you are serious about this, my decision has been made."

"Well, I'm serious." He gazed at her intently. "You're talented, Chloe, and I meant it when I said you never should have been terminated in the first place." He shrugged a little. "Just correcting a mistake."

Chloe shook her head a little and took a deep breath, "it's not your mistake to correct," she told him, holding his gaze, "but thank you for giving me another chance."

"Someone has to do it," he murmured, looking down at the table after a moment.

She frowned a little and cocked her head, watching him, "what do you mean?"

He glanced up once more. "Correcting mistakes. Someone has to, don't they?" He smiled faintly.

"Right," she pursed her lips together and nodded slowly, focusing her attention back on her wine, "some are easier to correct than others."

"And some can't ever be corrected," he murmured, taking a drink.

"You're right," Chloe agreed, turning to look at him once more, "probably better not to focus on those."

"Easier said than done." He gazed at her.

Chloe looked at him for a long moment watching him closely. Sure, she had questions, she was curious about where he'd been and what he'd been doing, but she didn't want to ask them, because she didn't want him to ask _her_ questions about her life. "It always is."

Oliver held her gaze, nodding slightly. "I know," he said softly.

She took a deep breath and nodded too, keeping her eyes on him for a moment longer before sitting up straight, "we probably should go, I need to make sure Jimmy is home."

He paused at that. "Do you think he might not be?"

Shrugging a little, she shook her head, "I don't know, he might have called Clark and met with him somewhere, he usually does when he's mad at me."

Oliver watched her for a moment. "I take it that you and Clark aren't on the best of terms." His voice grew quieter.

"Well, we didn't have a fight or anything," she admitted, "but Jimmy has been his sidekick of choice in the past couple of years."

"And you're okay with that?" 

She shrugged her shoulders, "it bothered me at first, but now I don't really care either way."

He gazed at her, then nodded slightly. "Then that's good, I guess."

"Yeah, I've been spending most of my time with Lois lately, when she's not in Gotham, that is," she told him, smiling a little.

"Which I'm guessing has been has been a lot more often." He smiled back softly. "She seems happy."

"She is," Chloe agreed, smiling back, "she's actually been taking days off of work just to see him, it's good for her."

"Good," he said with a slight nod.

She was quiet for a long moment then took a deep breath, "what about you, Ollie?" She asked quietly, "how have you been?"

Oliver drew in a breath, as well. He'd managed to veer away from all conversation that involved personal questions about his life. "Good. Everything's been...good." He managed to offer her a smile.

Her face fell a little when she noticed he'd given her the answer she always gave everyone, and she knew he was lying. But she wasn't going to push him. She just nodded a little and turned back to her wine, looking down at the glass then finishing it with a long sip. "We should go."

"Probably," he agreed softly. "It's been nice. Catching up."

"Yeah," she agreed, gathering her purse in her hands and moving to stand up slowly so she could make sure she could stand on her own, "I guess I'll... come by sometime tomorrow, so we can talk business."

Oliver rose to his feet, as well. "Do you need a ride home?"

Chloe hesitated then shook her head, "I can find a cab, thanks."

"My driver's outside." He gazed at her.

"I'm okay," she assured him, watching him closely, "I'll see you tomorrow."

His face fell a little, but the expression was quickly replaced with a small smile. "All right. Then I'll see you then."

"See you," she gave him a quick smile as she slid her purse over her shoulder then turned around and started her way out of the restaurant.

He watched her go, his smile fading immediately as weariness crept across his face instead. He moved back to the table for a moment, laying down some cash to cover their dinner and drinks for the night. Then he headed slowly toward the door, as well.

* * *

Instead of taking a cab, Chloe walked home. She walked all eight blocks in heels, slowly, taking her time as she made her way through downtown Metropolis over to the Watchtower. She didn't want to go back because she knew that unless Jimmy was sleeping, it was going to be another fight. But this was her life, she'd chosen it and she couldn't run away from, no matter how much she wanted to at that very moment.

With a deep breath, she stepped out of the elevator car and picked up her keys, sliding it into the door quietly before unlocking it and stepping inside their apartment.

Jimmy was across the room, seated on the sofa, staring blankly at the clock on the wall, a glass of vodka in his hand. "Have fun?" There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.

She forced herself not to sigh when she saw him, she really had been hoping he was asleep. She placed her purse over the kitchen table, "the mood lightened considerably after you left." She said simply.

"Well, how could it not? You guys are practically the Three Musketeers," he responded evenly.

"You were there for all of five minutes, Jimmy and you _could_ have made an effort to be nice to the guy who was offering me a job!" She said, already raising her voice, "or, at the very least, you could have _pretended_ you were happy for me."

"I don't trust him, Chloe!" He rose to his feet, shaking his head. "And I don't get why _you_ do either, after everything he did!"

"After he did what, Jimmy? What was _needed_? After he went out of his way to _help me_ and the only reason he did what he did to Clark was to protect him! On top of it, how can you not trust him when out of all people including me and more importantly, including Clark, Oliver was the _only_ person who trusted you with his secret! And this is how you repay him? By being rude because _Clark_ is still pouting about a wound he doesn't even have a scar for!?" Chloe demanded.

Jimmy scoffed. "Right. He's a saint. He's the reason both of us nearly got killed that night, the reason that _Clark_ almost got killed that night. Do you really have to ask why CK's still pissed at him? Why I am? Get a clue, Chloe."

"No, Jimmy, you should." She told him tightly, walking up to him and staring up at him with her jaw tight, "because no matter what I do or say, _you_ will only listen to Clark's opinion in the matter, to Clark's version of the story because his opinion is the only one that matters to you."

"Because it's the _truth_ ," he said coldly, glaring at her. "With you I never know what's true or what's not, or who you might be protecting from _me_."

"How dare you?" She said, her voice dangerously low, "how can you look me in the eye and say that to me? After everything I've done for you, all the times I've let things go, how dare you accuse me of keeping things from you when _you_ are the one who refuses to tell me where you are most of the time?"

"I'm helping CK. Making a difference," he said harshly, the implication left unspoken but every bit as tangible. _Unlike you._

She heard the unspoken words loud and clear and her jaw tightened once more, "I've tried to help, but it seems your dynamic duo doesn't need _my_ help."

"You're right about that," he responded, moving around her and finishing his glass of vodka. "I'm going to bed." 

Chloe turned, facing him, her expression tight, "is there _anything_ you need me for, Jimmy?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Chloe. Because it seems to me I've always come in second or third or fourth in this relationship." He turned to face her, as well. "How's it feel when the shoe's on the other foot?" Not waiting for her response, he headed down the hall and slammed the bedroom door shut behind him, locking it.

She simply stared, resisting the urge to take out her anger on the closed door. She took a few deep breaths until her jaw didn't feel as tight anymore and made her way into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind herself. She would take a hot shower and go sleep on the small sofa bed they had in the loft upstairs, it was better than having to share a bed with him when all she wanted to do was choke him anyway. And at least, she had her new job to look forward to, that definitely made tonight better than most nights.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe didn't make it to the Planet until about noon, after talking to her current editor and explaining everything, he told her it was an opportunity she couldn't miss and as long as she could finish up on the stories she had been currently working on, she was free to go.

When she walked into the building, she made her way straight to the editor's floor, not stopping to talk to her cousin and much less to Clark or Jimmy, who had left this morning without a word to her. She paused just outside the door and took a deep breath before knocking, hoping Oliver was actually there.

"Come in," he called, not looking up from the files he was currently pouring over. They were spread out all over his desk. Absently he reached for his mug of coffee--something he rarely drank unless he was just too tired to function without it. Which come to think of it, was quite often in the recent past.

She opened the door and stepped inside, pausing at the sight of him, she knew he didn't normally drink coffee, or used not to, but to see him in this smallish office, swimming in paperwork, and drinking coffee kind of amused her, "looks like you fit right in." She said as she closed the door behind her.

He glanced up at the sound of her voice and grinned a little. "Yeah, well. Looks can be deceiving," he responded, taking a drink and setting his mug down once more before motioning to a chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

Chloe sat down across from him and smiled, "is that coffee or tea?" She asked curiously, glancing at his mug.

"Coffee," he admitted. "Want some?" He nodded toward the coffee pot behind him that was already brewing more.

She eyed the pot behind him then nodded, "please, I had one cup at eight, it's effects are long gone by now."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "One cup in four hours? That's it? And here I thought coffee was your middle name," he joked, turning around and pouring a cup of coffee, adding sugar and cream to it without being asked before handing it to her.

"I know, I didn't even notice it had been that long until I was driving here." She admitted as she reached for the mug, "thank you."

"You're welcome," he said with a small smile.

Chloe sipped on her coffee and raised her eyebrows, "this is really good."

"It's Brazilian," he informed her.

She smiled and nodded, looking down at her mug, "well, I will have to pay attention to whenever you're gone from your office so I can sneak in here and have some of your coffee."

Oliver grinned. "Or you could just drop in and say hi when I'm here. Contrary to popular belief, I'm pretty good about sharing." He paused. "Most of the time."

"I could," she agreed, "but I don't want anyone else to think I have privileges."

"Right," he said, this time more softly. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well," she sat up on her chair and settled her mug over his desk, "I spoke with my editor today and he said I have to finish some things, which I can do from home, but he said I was free to start here whenever I could."

"Great," he said without hesitation. "Do you have a date in mind?" he asked, reaching for his calendar.

"Whenever works for you," she told him, "if you want me to start today I can, if you want me to start tomorrow I can too, or in the beginning of the month if that's better."

Oliver shook his head. "Doesn't matter to me. Whenever you're ready to start, you'll have a place."

Chloe took a deep breath and smiled at him, nodding, "how about tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow works," he answered, jotting it down on his calendar. Like he was going to forget.

"Thank you, Ollie," she said sincerely, watching him, "I don't think I have to tell you how much this means to me."

He glanced up at her and smiled faintly. "No problem. Glad to have you on board." He paused. "What are you thinking in terms of salary?"

"Oh," Chloe shook her head a little, realizing for the first time that they _hadn't_ talked about that, not that it really mattered, she knew how much Lois and Jimmy made and that was twice as much as she'd been making at her previous job, "that's up to you, I mean, the benefits that comes with working at the Planet alone are enough for it to make it worthwhile for me to change jobs."

He tilted his head to the side, watching her for a moment. "Well, what was your salary at the Star?" he asked.

"I didn't have one," Chloe admitted, "we got paid by the story, like freelancers."

Oliver frowned at that. "Really?" He wondered how she'd been getting by with work like that. Then he remembered that her husband _was_ making a salary. "How does $48 thousand a year sound?"

She raised her eyebrows and held her breath for a second, "like a lot more than I was expecting."

He smiled a bit. "Don't worry. I've been pouring over the salaries of the rest of the staff and that's pretty comparable for an experienced journalist. It's not a special privilege."

"I know," Chloe admitted, smiling, "it's just a big difference."

He nodded, silent for a moment. "Are you uh--doing okay this morning?" His voice dropped a little.

She paused at the question and looked at him for a moment then smiled a little, nodding, "much better now."

"Good." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

"How are you?" She asked him, quietly, hoping she'd actually get an honest answer this time.

Oliver met her eyes and hesitated for a moment before leaning back in his chair. "Tired," he admitted.

Chloe watched him for a long moment then lowered her voice even more, "did you go out last night after dinner?"

He nodded slightly. "For a couple hours."

"How can you do all this?" She asked, "editor, CEO and that on top of it."

Oliver picked up his mug of coffee and smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

Chloe shook her head a little. She knew better than that, knew he was hiding from something if he was keeping himself _that_ busy, "have you been talking to the others?"

"Spoke with Vic a couple days ago," he told her with at slight shrug.

"How is he?" She asked curiously.

"He's good. He's in Flagstaff at the moment. Or he was two days ago."

"What about the rest of the team?" Chloe asked quietly, watching Oliver closely.

"Bart's in Keystone, AC's in Rio and Dinah's somewhere in Europe," he told her without hesitation.

At that, she frowned slightly, "so you haven't been working together?"

"Well, fortunately no big crises have arisen as of late," Oliver responded, not quite meeting her eyes this time.

"Right," Chloe nodded a little and tried for a smile, "that is good news."

"I'm sure they'd love to hear from you," he said quietly.

She paused and smiled a little, nodding, "maybe you can let me know next time they are in town."

"I can do that," Oliver agreed.

"Thank you," she said quietly, sipping on her coffee and finishing it in silence.

He watched her for a long time and then finished off his own coffee, as well.

"I should let you get back to work," she said finally, pushing her chair back, "you look like you have a lot of it."

"I don't really even know where to start," he admitted, raking a hand through his hair. "I guess I'll figure it out though."

"Well," Chloe pursed her lips together, "if you need help, let me know. I haven't played editor since high school, but I'm sure I can still remember a thing or two."

"I just might take you up on that one," he told her with a faint smile.

"Don't hesitate," she said sincerely, "I won't mind helping." Chloe smiled at him and moved to stand, pausing when she saw the door opening without a knock.

Oliver glanced up, not really surprised to see Tess Mercer stepping into his office without knocking. "Tess." He rose to his feet.

Tess raised an eyebrow as she looked from Oliver to the blond standing on the other side of his desk, "wasted no time, did you?"

Chloe tensed instantly as her eyes fell on the red head, "you made me waste enough time as is."

Oliver shifted his gaze from Tess to Chloe and then back again. "Chloe's one hell of a reporter. She'll be an asset to the Planet," he informed her calmly, his voice professional and assured.

"Not even a week in and you're already favoring your friends, Oliver. Last time I checked, we didn't have any openings." Tess said, completely ignoring Chloe.

"First of all, her work stands for itself. Secondly, Chloe and I aren't friends. We're simply business acquaintances," he informed her, completely unrattled by the accusation. "If you wish to continue this discussion, I suggest you wait until my meeting with our newest employee is finished. Not doing so is extremely unprofessional, not to mention discourteous."

"You have a budget to work on, Oliver," Tess pointed out, "adding another employee will make you go over said budget," she said calmly, the hint of a smirk on her face, "I just stopped by to drop the documents finalizing the sale," she informed him, tossing the folder over his desk, "and also to assess how long I think you will last at the job," Tess eyed his desk for a moment and her smirk grew wider, "good luck." She told him before turning to Chloe and smirking a little more as she made her way out of the office.

His jaw tightened a little and he picked up the folder she'd tossed onto his desk, watching her head away without a word.

Chloe sighed deeply, watching as the woman walked away, "always a pleasure," she mumbled.

"Sorry about that." His voice was quiet. "Don't take it too personally. She's still angry about my being here."

"Don't apologize," Chloe told him, shaking her head, "it's not your fault."

He shrugged a little, glancing up at her for a moment. "Yeah," he murmured. "So I'll see you tomorrow."

Chloe looked at him for a moment longer, wanting to ask what was going on with Tess but stopping herself from doing so, she didn't know how much of the 'simply business acquaintances' part Oliver meant, but now wasn't the time to find out, "I'll see you tomorrow." She agreed quietly before starting to the door.

Oliver watched her go before sinking down onto his chair once more, leaning back in it and closing his eyes.

* * *

After her meeting with Oliver, Chloe took some time before making her way down to the 7th floor, she was hoping to find Lois, but she was also hoping to avoid Jimmy for a while longer. She took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened and adjusted her purse as she made her way into the busy newsroom.

"No, I needed _that_ information yesterday," Lois said, rolling her eyes as she spoke into her phone. Then she smiled. "That's better. Thanks!" She hung up the phone, glancing up in time to see her cousin approaching. Her smile brightened more instantly. "Hey!"

"Hey," Chloe smiled, relieved to see Lois and no other familiar faces around, "getting things done your way again, I see."

"Part of my natural charm," she said lightly, rising to her feet and hugging Chloe when she got close enough. "You met with Ollie this morning?"

Chloe returned the hug and nodded, smiling up at her cousin as they pulled away, "I start tomorrow."

Lois beamed. "Which means tonight we should go out and celebrate!"

"How is it that I knew you were going to say that?" Chloe asked, smirking.

"You know me?" She chuckled.

"Clearly," Chloe smiled, cocking her head a little, "mostly, I'm surprised you're not hungover."

This time it was Lois's turn to smirk. "You should know better than that. Miracle hangover cures are my specialty."

"Right, comes with the experience and all that," she shook her head a little, "how about we keep tonight's celebration just between the two of us?"

"I think that sounds like the best idea we've had in awhile," Lois agreed with a nod.

"Okay, good," Chloe said, smiling softly, "I gotta go home and finish up the articles I was working on for the Star and you can let me know when you're about to leave and I'll meet you at your place?" She suggested, not really wanting Lois to go over and run into Jimmy.

"Even better plan," she confirmed with a knowing smirk.

"Good," Chloe agreed, keeping the drama level to a minimum sounded like a good plan anyway.

Lois smiled at her. "All right. I'll see you in a few hours."

"See you soon," she told Lois, smiling a little before making her way to the elevator once more, relieved that she hadn't run into anyone else.

* * *

Lois was seated across from her cousin at Dirty's, watching her carefully as they talked about her first day at the Planet tomorrow. She'd never been well-known for being overly subtle or sensitive about other people's feelings--but her cousin was the exception to that rule. Chloe was closer to her than her own mostly absentee sister Lucy, and by all rights and purposes, Chloe _felt_ more like a sister than a cousin. She rested her arms on the table as she watched her cousin's gaze flicker across the bar. "All right, what's going on?"

Chloe blinked and raised her eyebrows, turning her attention back on her cousin, "what?"

"Chloe." Her voice lowered and she studied her intently. "You start back at your dream job tomorrow and you look like you'd rather be trimming Yosemite Sam's mustache every day for the rest of your life." 

She couldn't help but smile a little at Lois, shaking her head, she shrugged a little, "no, I'm glad to go back and I'm glad there is no Luthor influence over the Planet anymore and that I will actually have a decent pay check," Chloe told her then shrugged a little, "I'm just now sure how things will be."

Lois cocked her head to the side, considering that for a moment. "You mean things with Jimmy."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed quietly, "I mean, things aren't exactly great," and that was the understatement of the year, "and then working together every day..."

"He'll be on the opposite side of the newsroom most of the time, especially if your desk is anywhere in the vicinity of mine," Lois told her.

"I know," she took a deep breath, "I just don't know if this will make things better or worse."

Worry shone in her eyes. "Chloe, look." She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "You're miserable with Jimmy. Why are you staying with him?"

Chloe sighed and leaned back against her seat then looked down at glass, "I don't know," she admitted, "hope we can eventually make things better?" She said quietly, "it's not like we're just dating, Lo, we can't just... break up and get it over with."

Lois pursed her lips. "You haven't been happy with Jimmy Olsen the duration of your marriage," she pointed out. "And sometimes you have to accept that it's not working the way you wanted it to." Her voice grew quiet. "Do you still love him?"

She nodded and took a deep breath, "I know, but it's not that easy to just give up on it."

"You didn't answer my question." 

Chloe took a deep breath, "I don't know. I don't know if I do under all the... bitterness I feel toward him right now."

Lois didn't blame her for that. "Considering the way the guy treats you most of the time, I can't say I'm surprised." Her voice was quiet.

"It goes both ways, Lo," Chloe told her quietly, "the way he treats _you_ makes me angrier."

"He's an ass," she said with a shrug.

"He has been lately," she agreed, taking a long sip of her drink.

Lois arched an eyebrow. "Just lately?"

"I refuse to believe I would have married him if he had been like this all along," Chloe said blankly.

She sighed softly. "No. Not _all_ along. Just since he found out certain...interesting pieces of information about people we know."

"That does have a tendency to change people," Chloe said with a sigh.

"It changes most of us for the better," Lois commented.

"I know," Chloe looked at Lois and shook her head, "I don't know what I'm going to do, I will probably just wait, see how me being at the Planet changes things and then... make a decision."

"Well, I've got your back," she said sincerely.

At that, Chloe smiled a little and nodded, "I know, thank you."

"I love you, Chloe. I just want you to be happy. You deserve that." Lois smiled faintly, the worry in her eyes still obvious.

"I love you too, Lo," Chloe said, pursing her lips and looking away, after what she did, she wasn't sure she deserved much more than what she had.

The guilt that flickered across her cousin's face wasn't lost on her, but she wasn't sure what had brought it on. Lois felt a vague, unsettled feeling tugging at her. Almost a sense of deja vu. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, leaning back in her chair. "We should probably pack it in for the night." She paused. "You wanna stay with me?" 

Chloe considered for a moment then reached for her purse and pulled out her phone, she had texted Jimmy earlier, letting him know she was going to dinner with Lois, but apparently he hadn't bothered with a reply and considering she hadn't spoken to him all day, she could only assume that if she went home and he was there, it would be the usual cold silences between them, so she nodded, "yeah, I'll just stop home tomorrow morning and change."

Lois smiled. "Great! We can watch a movie and binge on ice cream." She rose to her feet.

"Sounds like a plan," Chloe said as she stood up too, pausing when she saw something out of the corner of her eye and turning to look at the bar once more, frowning, "is that..."

She raised an eyebrow and turned to look in the direction Chloe was gazing, only to spot a familiar blond head at the very end of the bar, alone. She frowned a little. "Yeah."

"Think he's here by himself?" Chloe asked quietly, gazing at Lois then back.

Lois glanced around and didn't see anyone approaching him. "Looks like."

"... should we?" She asked, keeping her eyes on him this time.

Something made her pause at the question, watching Oliver silently. He was alone, and drinking, and by the looks of it, miserable. That feeling of deja vu tugged at her once more and she frowned again. "Why don't you go ahead?" she suggested, not even sure why.

At that, Chloe frowned and turned to look at Lois again, "what about you?"

Lois smiled quickly. "I'm going to step outside and get some air. Shouldn't have had that last tequila."

"Right," Chloe said, frowning a little more, "don't leave without me."

She rolled her eyes. "Like I would." She shook her head a little and headed for the door.

Chloe watched as Lois walked away then took a deep breath before starting toward Ollie, she stopped a couple feet from him, "Ollie?" She called, loud enough for him to hear, but still quietly.

Hearing someone call his name over the sound of the music, he turned his head to look, caught off guard by the sight of Chloe. "Hey."

"Hey," Chloe said, smiling a little at him and watching him, "I wouldn't think this would be your kind of place." Grease burgers, fries and cheap drinks don't exactly scream Oliver Queen.

That earned her a small smile. "You'd be surprised." He shrugged a little and finished off his glass of scotch, setting it down on the bar and turning to face her.

"I am," she corrected him, "I was just over there with Lois and thought I saw a familiar face." 

Oliver glanced around but didn't see Lois. "Oh." His gaze shifted back to her face once more.

"She stepped outside, too much tequila or something," Chloe told him, smiling a little.

An amused smile touched his lips. "We may need to stage an intervention of some sort."

"We may need to," she agreed, "call Bruce, tell him to refuse sex until she stops drinking, that should work."

He chuckled involuntarily. "Sounds about right."

"Yep," Chloe said then eyed him for a moment, "are you here by yourself?"

Oliver gave her a short nod. "Yeah. Just left the Planet, needed a bite to eat before I headed home for the night."

"Oh," she nodded, "is home still at the Clock tower?"

"Yeah. Good thing I didn't sell the place when I considered it a couple years ago." He smiled faintly.

"That would have been a shame," she told him quietly then pursed her lips for a second, ignoring the fact her stomach was knotting up, "we were about to head to Lois', hang out for the rest of the night, you're welcome to join us."

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "No, you two should have your girl's night. I've got work to do anyway. But thanks for the offer."

"We have been hanging out for the past three hours, we've had a lot of girl time already," Chloe told him, smiling a little, normally she wouldn't push, but she noticed his hesitation.

"There's such a thing when it comes to you and Lois?" he asked lightly.

"Well, depends, there might be now that we'll be working together." Chloe told him, smiling softly.

"That'll be interesting to see," he told her with a small smile.

"Interesting is a word for it," Chloe agreed then took a deep breath, "are you sure you don't wanna come with me?"

Oliver smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm sure. I really need to head out," he said quietly.

"Okay," her face fell a little but she tried for a smile, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Goodnight, Chloe," he said softly.

"Night, Ollie," she said just as softly, watching him for a moment and smiling a little before turning around and heading for the door.

He watched her go, then turned back to the bartender, letting out a breath. "I'll have another."


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe picked up the name plaque from her desk and she couldn't help but smile. She had missed it, she wasn't as ecstatic as she thought she would be when this happened again, like something was still missing but she was happy to be there, to have her own desk and as Lois requested, it was the one across from her cousin's and far from Clark's, which was also Jimmy's favorite hang out place when he wasn't in the 'dark room'.

She had just gotten in with Lois and she knew Jimmy was probably already there because when she stopped home to change, he had already been gone, but she hadn't seen him yet. Lois had been called into a meeting the second they got to their desks so Chloe had been left behind, arranging things and setting herself up in her new work area.

"Where the hell were you last night?" Jimmy was suddenly leaning against the front of her desk. "You stay out all night and don't even bother to let me know?"

Blinking, she looked up, raising her eyebrows at him, "I texted you I was having dinner with my cousin, when you didn't reply, I figured you weren't interested." She said quietly.

His jaw tightened and he reached out and caught her arm, tugging her out of the newsroom and toward the stairwell.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Chloe hissed, letting him drag her not to cause a bigger scene on her first day.

"This is getting out of hand," he snapped as soon as they were out of sight from the rest of their coworkers.

"What, _exactly_ is getting out of hand?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing, "I had my phone on me at all times, if you really cared where I was, you would have called."

"Assuming you would have answered in the first place."

"I guess you will never know since you didn't bother calling," she told him, raising a single brow as the fireproof door fell shut behind them and them found themselves in the slightly chilly emergency stairs.

Jimmy's eyes narrowed. "The phone works both ways, Chloe," he said coldly. "And since you were the one off doing God knows what with God knows who, it was your responsibility to call."

"I used the phone, Jimmy, I texted you and told you exactly who I would be with, I can't say the same about you," Chloe told him.

"I was at home, waiting on my wife to come back." He folded his arms across his chest.

She stilled for a moment, feeling slightly guilty, "I slept at Lois', I didn't want to come home and argue with you again."

Jimmy was silent for a moment and he blew out a breath, looking away.

"I'm tired of doing this," Chloe told him, her voice lower than before, "I'm working here now, I don't want things to be uncomfortable."

"It's already uncomfortable, Chloe." He sighed softly.

"Then what are we going to do?" She asked him, watching him closely.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But I'm tired of it, too."

Chloe rubbed her hands over her face and paced around the small space for a moment before looking at him, "maybe we need a break."

"Like a vacation?" he asked uncertainly.

"No, Jimmy," she said quietly, "a break in our marriage."

He paused, then turned and stared at her. "Are you kidding me?" His voice rose an octave.

Chloe blinked at the sudden change in him, "What? Do you have any other solutions, Jimmy?"

"Yeah, here's a thought. You could stop being so focused on everything your cousin does and be a little more concerned about you know, the vows that you took!" He glared at her.

" _I_ am focused in what my cousin does?" She asked, her voice rising too as she stared at him in disbelief, "you follow Clark around like a puppy dog, Jimmy!"

"You mean the way _you_ used to?" he shot back. "You know what I think? I think you're just jealous that Clark trusts me more than he does _you_!"

"This has _nothing_ to do with Clark!" She said angrily, "I could care less about who Clark pays attention to, I'm not in a relationship with him."

"Sometimes it feels like you're not in a relationship with _me_ either," he snapped, storming away from her.

It was Chloe's turn to grab his arm, " _stop_ walking away," she demanded, "you can't accuse me and not let me defend myself, you know you have no basis for the _bullshit_ you are saying."

"I have _plenty_ of basis for it," he snapped, yanking his arm away from her. "And you damn well know it."

"You _can't_ use something that happened over two years ago against me, Jimmy," she said tightly, "something that you _knew_ about when we agreed to get back together!"

"It was a bad decision on my part," Jimmy said sharply. 

"Then why are you _staying_ with me?" She said just as sharply.

"These days I ask myself that a lot." Shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face, he headed away once more.

Chloe let him go this time and sighed deeply, watching as the heavy door that led back to the main hallway closed behind Jimmy. She took a couple of steps backwards and sat down on the stairs, rubbing her face.

Oliver stood a few steps above her, hesitating. "Chloe? You all right?" His voice was quiet.

She stood up immediately, her eyes widening as she turned around to see him, her heart suddenly beating fast, "Oliver?"

"I was on my way down to..." He shook his head a little, gazing at her. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Chloe sighed deeply and stared at him for a full moment then took a deep breath, "I'm sorry you heard it at all."

He shook his head a little and descended the rest of the stairs so he was standing next to her. "Don't be." His voice was quiet.

Pursing her lips together, she looked at him for a moment then looked away. To say she felt humiliated that he had heard her argument with Jimmy was an understatement. It was bad enough that she was going to have to deal with the glares Jimmy would be giving her for the rest of the day, but now Oliver knew the truth too.

Oliver looked down for a moment, then sat down on one of the steps. "He was pretty harsh," he said softly.

She looked down at him, frowning softly before joining him and shrugging, "he's pissed at me," Chloe told him before rolling her eyes, "obviously."

"Still." He glanced at her sideways.

"Yeah," Chloe agreed quietly, looking down at her lap, "I don't know what to do anymore."

"You're not happy," he said very softly.

She gave him a blank smile and raised her eyebrows, "surprise."

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, hesitantly reaching out and placing his hand on her arm.

Her eyes got warm with tears immediately at the comforting gesture. She sighed deeply once more and looked down at his hand but didn't pull her arm away, "no one besides Lois knows it's like this," she told him, "and even Lois doesn't know how bad it's gotten."

He gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "Sounds like it's gotten pretty bad," he murmured.

"We can't stand to be in the same room with each other anymore," she admitted, "there is no respect left."

"How long's it been like this for you two?" Oliver asked quietly.

"I don't know," Chloe said quietly, "I don't remember when it got to this point."

He was silent for a moment, then hesitantly slid his hand down her arm until his hand wrapped around hers.

She looked down at their hands and wrapped her finger around his after a moment and took a deep breath, "thank you," she told him in a whisper.

"I haven't done anything," he said just as quietly.

"You have done a lot," Chloe corrected him, smiling slightly.

Oliver looked down at their hands, but didn't let go. "I can always listen," he said after a moment.

She was quiet for a long moment, her eyes still on their hands, "I will let you know when I feel ready to talk." She promised quietly.

"Deal," he said softly, glancing at her sideways.

Chloe took a deep breath and smiled a little at him, "this is far from what I imagined my first day back would be like."

"Yeah, I bet not," Oliver agreed, offering a small smile in return. "Maybe the brand new cappuccino machine in the employee lounge will help brighten the day."

"You bought a cappuccino machine for the employee's lounge?" She asked, grateful for the distraction even if her fingers were still wrapped tightly around his hand, "you realize productivity will decrease about five hundred percent, right?"

A smile tugged at his lips. "Or increase five hundred percent," he joked.

"I don't know," she raised her eyebrows, cocking her head, "how fast can that thing make coffee?"

"Pretty fast," he assured her with a hint of amusement.

"Then it might work out," she told him, smiling for real this time as she watched him.

"You think so?" He turned his head to meet her eyes.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," she told him, holding his gaze.

"I guess we will," he whispered.

* * * 

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly as he surveyed the newsroom. He'd been putting off what he was about to do for days now, and even though part of him wanted to keep doing just that, he knew the confrontation was inevitable. Steeling his nerves, he straightened his shoulders and crossed the room to Clark Kent's desk.

Clark heart footsteps approaching and stopped his typing when someone moved to stand behind his chair, he adjusted his glasses, which he'd been wearing all the time he was in public now, and turned his chair around to see who it was, "Oliver," he said, surprised as he moved to stand up.

"Hey." His voice was quiet but steady. "How's it going?"

He nodded, adjusting his glasses once more, "busy, how about you?"

"Also busy," Oliver admitted with a nod of his own. "But I thought I should come and say hello."

"Hello," Clark said blankly, staring at him.

He shifted uncomfortably. "How have things been going?"

"They were going well," Clark said, "why did you come back, Oliver?"

Oliver did his best to ignore the insinuation there. It wasn't like he hadn't been expecting it. "I thought it was time to stop running."

"So instead of coming by for a visit you decide to buy my work place? Show you still have power over things?" Clark accused.

His jaw tightened ever-so-slightly. "That had nothing to do with you," he informed Clark honestly.

Clark crossed his arms over his chest, "you were running because of what you did to me, and you decide to come back like this? I don't believe you."

"Don't presume that the reasons I left had everything to do with you, Clark," Oliver said evenly.

"Who else was it about, Oliver? I'm the one you turned your back on."

"I don't think this is the time nor the place to have this particular discussion," he responded, glancing around.

"I'm not having this discussion with you at all," Clark told him, "you're no better than Lex."

The two men stared at each other for a long moment, then Oliver gave him a short nod. "And you haven't changed either." He turned and started to head away.

"Stay away from Lois and Chloe," Clark added, his jaw tight as Oliver walked past him.

He paused and turned to look at the other man. "Sorry, Clark. You don't get to tell me who I spend my time with."

"If either one of them get hurt because of you..." he trailed off, but the warning was there.

"Yeah, that's my goal. Come back to Metropolis and try to hurt Lois and Chloe," he said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"It would be a way to get to me," Clark pointed out, eyes narrowing.

That earned him an eye roll. "Hate to tell you this, Clark, but my life doesn't exactly revolve around you," he informed him, shaking his head and turning to go once more.

"I won't take your word for it," Clark murmured as he turned back to his computer.

"Wouldn't expect you to," he muttered as he headed away, toward the stairs.

Chloe made her way out from behind a filing cabinet not far from Clark's desk, folders in her arms. She had heard most of the conversation and somehow had managed to stop herself from getting in the middle of it and making things worse, she pursed her lips together and looked at Oliver, hoping to catch his eye.

Oliver felt someone's gaze on him and turned, locking eyes with Chloe from across the room. He tried to smile at her, but didn't quite manage it, a grimace forming instead, followed by a slight shrug.

She shook her head a little and smiled sympathetically, "sorry," she mouthed, then nodded.

He shrugged again, glancing over to Clark and seeing the other man staring at him intently. Sighing softly, he looked at Chloe once more and then headed up the stairs.

Chloe watched him go then glanced at Clark too, not surprised to see he had noticed the interaction, "some things are none of your business, Clark," she told him in a whisper even as she walked away from him and toward her desk, she knew he could hear it.


	5. Chapter 5

It was nearly 2 a.m. and Oliver was seated at the chair behind his desk at the Daily Planet, pouring over files as he'd been doing the last several nights. His eyes were tired, and he was itching to go out on patrol, but he couldn't until he finished his work. Drawing in a deep breath, he looked up when a soft knock sounded on his door. His eyebrows furrowed a little as he wondered who was there so late. "Come in."

Chloe opened the door and raised her eyebrows a little, "I thought you were still here," she said quietly, carrying two large cups of coffee as she entered the room.

He blinked a couple of times, surprised to see her. "And I had no idea you were still here."

"I left and came back," she admitted, setting one of the cups in front of him.

Oliver cocked his head to the side, reaching out and picking up the cup. "Thanks," he murmured, watching her intently. "Did something happen?"

"No," she said honestly, "I had an idea for something and since Jimmy is out with Clark, I figured I'd come by and work on it before I forgot, I saw your car downstairs when I came in."

"Oh." He relaxed a little, glad nothing else had happened. "What's your idea? Or is it a secret?" He smiled faintly.

"Well, you're my editor, I don't think I'm allowed to keep secrets from you," she told him, smiling softly, "just that article on the governor I'm working on, I just found a couple more loopholes on this proposal, but I emailed it to you, you can take a look at it when you don't look like you're about to drown in your paperwork."

"It's okay. I could actually use a break," he confessed, glancing up at her and meeting her eyes for a moment before shaking the computer mouse and waking his computer.

Chloe stepped closer to the desk and started looking at all the paper he had, well, _everywhere_ , "what are you working on anyway?"

He sighed softly. "Honestly, I don't even know. I'm just trying to make heads or tails of all the stuff that Tess had in the desk."

She smiled softly at the frustration in his voice, "need a hand?"

"I wouldn't protest," he said softly, glancing at her sideways.

"Okay," she told him, smiling and setting her cup down on one of the few empty spaces on the desk then picking a pile of files, "although, I have to warn you, I might be late for work tomorrow morning."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Duly noted," he agreed, opening the email she'd sent him.

She pulled a chair closer to his desk and sat down, starting to go through the pile she had on her lap, "have you been staying this late every day?"

"Pretty much. Can't let Tess' prediction come true." He started to read her email.

"Well, we will make sure to prove her wrong," Chloe told him, "I'll come help you every day until you're completely caught up."

Oliver paused, glancing over at her. "Why?" he asked softly.

"Because it looks like you need it?" She told him, frowning a little, confused by his question.

He drew in a breath, nodding. It wasn't like she was wrong. Far from it. "Thanks," he murmured.

"I don't mind," she said sincerely, it was better than being home alone or counting down the seconds before her next argument with Jimmy.

He glanced at her for a moment, relaxing a little at her assurance. "Just don't want you to over-work yourself."

"Journalism never really felt like work to me," she admitted, glancing up from the papers and smiling softly at him, "I would do it for free if I didn't have bills to pay."

At that, he gave her a genuine smile. "Somehow I think your help's going to be invaluable."

Chloe smiled a little more when she saw the smile on his lips, "just let me know what you need."

Oliver gazed at her. "Ditto."

A long time went by and the amount of paper over Ollie's desk had lowered considerably, Chloe didn't even know how long they'd been there, but her eyes were getting tired, "okay, I don't know if I'm making much sense out of what I'm reading anymore." She admitted.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, glancing over at her. "Yeah, me either," he agreed, rubbing his hand over his face. "Of course, it could be because it's nearly 6 in the morning and neither of us has been to bed yet."

Chloe blinked, looking over at him, "it's almost six?" She gasped quietly.

Oliver glanced at his clock, nodding and then looking out the window at the slowly-rising sun. "Yeah."

"Crap," Chloe muttered and moved to stand up, "I need to go."

He rose to his feet, as well, a worried expression on his face. "Right, of course." He paused. "Chloe?" 

"Yeah?" She said quietly, raising her eyebrows.

Oliver hesitated a moment. "He's never put his hands on you, right?" His voice was quiet.

Chloe paused and frowned, shaking her head, "of course not, I would have killed him if he tried," she said firmly then paused when she realized what it must have looked like, "just not looking forward for the next argument."

He winced a little. "Right. Sorry I kept you here so late."

"It's not your fault," she assured him, smiling a little, "I lost track of time too."

He nodded slightly. "All right. Do you need a ride?"

"I have my car, thank you," she told him, grabbing her mug from his desk.

"No, thank _you_ ," he told her quietly, his voice sincere. "For all your help."

Chloe nodded a little and smiled softly, "this might be the dorkiest thing I ever told you, but I really do enjoy doing this kind of work," she told him, "I'll be by to help again when I'm done with my things."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Get some rest," he answered.

"You too," she told him, smiling softly and walking out of the room, toward the elevator, she still had to stop by her desk and grab her things.

Oliver watched her go, his chest tightening a little involuntarily. Somehow, he'd have to find a way to repay her.

* * *

As it turned out, Jimmy had never made it home the previous night either. Chloe called him when she realized that and left him a couple of voice mails, the first one asking where he was and the second one letting him know she was going to work and to give her a call when he got those. She was pretty sure he was with Clark somewhere, but she found herself not really caring where he was as long as he was okay.

She showered, changed and left back to work, stopping on her way to grab some breakfast and making it to the Planet before nine, there really wasn't much of a point in sleeping, she would just go to bed early that night.

When she noticed that neither Jimmy nor Clark were in yet, she relaxed a little and after eating her bagel and starting on third cup of coffee, she decided to make her way up to Oliver's office, to make sure he had gone home, but when she saw the light inside was still on, she frowned a little and tried the door knob and wasn't surprised when it turned easily, "Ollie?" She called, poking her head inside the office.

Oliver's head was on the desk, his eyes shut and his face twisted into a grimace as he slept. His breathing was shallow and slightly uneven as images danced behind his eyelids. Blood. So much blood, everywhere. He felt like he was drowning in it.

Her face softened as she realized he was actually asleep on his desk, she closed the door behind herself and stepped closer to his desk, "Ollie?" She called again, frowning as she realized how restless his sleep was, she walked around the desk, ready to touch his shoulder and wake him from his nightmare if her calling his name wasn't enough.

He jerked upright, his eyes opening widely as he stared up at her, not really seeing her for a moment. Then confusion clouded his expression. "Chloe?"

She took a step back and blinked, staring at him for a moment then smiling a little, "you fell asleep."

He blinked a couple of times and then rubbed his hand over his face, looking around the office and then back at her once more.

Chloe reached down and placed a hand over his shoulder without really thinking about what she was doing, "you should go home and get some rest, Ollie."

"What time is it?" he murmured.

"About nine thirty," she told him, watching him closely.

His eyebrows furrowed and he rose to his feet slowly, looking down at her hand still resting on his shoulder. "Did you get any sleep?" They were only inches apart.

Chloe looked up, dropping her hand slowly and shaking her head, "I figured I wouldn't wake up for a long time if I went to bed so I just showered, drank a lot of coffee and came back." She admitted, watching him closely.

"Was Jimmy...did you two fight?" he asked uncertainly.

She actually smiled a little at that, pursing her lips together and shaking her head, "he hasn't been home either," she said quietly, "probably has no idea I was gone, so I left him a couple of voicemails asking him where he was," she told him quietly.

Oliver exhaled slowly, nodding. "No sleep in twenty-four hours and somehow you still look amazing." He smiled faintly.

Chloe raised her eyebrows and her eyes widened a little then she shook her head shyly before smiling at him, "clearly your lack of sleep has made you delusional."

"I may be delusional for a lot of reasons, but that's definitely not one of them." He glanced at the cup of coffee on his desk. "Mind if I--?"

"Go for it," she told him, taking a step back to give him room to move around his office.

He picked it up and took a drink, grimacing involuntarily at the bitterness and looking at her curiously. "Black coffee?"

"Sorry," she winced a little at his grimace, "I usually have black coffee in the morning to wake up, move on to the sweeter stuff after ten."

An amused smile touched his lips. "That's what I get for stealing your coffee." 

"Technically, its your coffee," she pointed out, smiling then waving her hand to the sugar and cream next to his coffee pot, "feel free to add stuff to it."

"Probably be easier to wake up with this." He held the mug up a little and downed the rest of it quickly, then set the mug down once more. He turned around and started a new pot of coffee.

"I'm guessing there is no point in trying to get you to go home and sleep?" She asked, cocking her head as she watched him.

He managed a tiny smile. "About as likely as I am to get you to do the same."

Chloe grinned softly and watched him, brushing her hair behind her ear, "fair. So we will both be a couple of caffeinated zombies for the day, at least it's Friday."

"TGIF," he joked, relaxing a little as he watched her right back.

She grinned softly, "I couldn't agree more. But we can come in for a few hours this weekend to try and get ahead if you want to?" She offered, not sure why she was doing so, but she didn't really like the idea of not seeing him for two whole days.

"Workaholic," he teased her, pouring them each another cup of coffee.

"Hey, I'm just trying to help you out here," she teased, "besides, look who is talking Mr. I have three full time jobs."

Oliver grinned involuntarily at that and shrugged. "I won't protest the company or the help."

Chloe smiled and nodded, "didn't think so," she told him, shrugging a little, "just let me know when and I'll be here."

"I'll be here most of the weekend," he told her.

"Well," she raised her eyebrows a little, "I expect you to sleep in tomorrow morning, so why don't I meet you here around one?"

He smiled at that. "Only if you're going to be doing the same."

"That's the plan," she told him, smiling back and nodding.

"Good," he agreed, his eyes a little brighter than they had been.

Chloe nodded and grinned softly, "okay, then it's a plan." She told him.

Oliver held her gaze, still smiling, as well.

"Oliver, have you seen my--" Lois paused in the doorway to his office, raising her eyebrows as she spotted Chloe standing a few feet from him.

Chloe stilled for a moment then blinked and looked over at the door, smiling a little as she saw her cousin, not sure why she suddenly felt nervous, "I swear I taught her how to knock," she told Ollie, keeping her voice light.

At that, Lois smirked. "Actually it was the other way around. I just didn't practice what I taught you," she teased, stepping farther into the office and looking at her cousin for a moment.

Rolling her eyes, Chloe shook her head, "could be that too," she told Oliver, "anyway, if you hand me my coffee, I will get out of your way so you can answer this one's questions," she said, nodding at Lois, her mood lighter than it had been in a long time.

Oliver didn't hesitate to pick up the glass he'd poured her and handed it over. "Thanks for the help," he said quietly.

Lois looked between them, catching the lighter expression on her cousin's face.

"You're welcome," she told him, smiling softly as she took the coffee, "I'll see you tomorrow if I don't see you later."

"I'll see you then," he agreed, returning her smile and watching as she headed for the door.

Chloe smiled at her cousin then walked out of the room.

Lois raised her eyebrows and cocked her head, glancing at Oliver curiously.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"What's tomorrow?" She asked curiously.

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Chloe's helping me sort through the job," he admitted.

"Oh, _this_ job?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and watching Oliver closely for more information.

He tensed a little at that. "Yeah. She knows a lot more about the journalism business than I do and she offered to help."

"Good," she said, not completely sure why, but it sounded like a good idea, Chloe and Oliver working together, "anyway, I don't remember why I came in here so I'll be back when I do." She said brightly.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. "Right," he said slowly, his voice holding a touch of suspicion.

Lois grinned at him and turned around and left the room, making a mental note to knock next time.

He shook his head a little and watched her go, a slight frown on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh, thank God," Chloe said as there was a knock on the door and she could see the silhouette of the Chinese delivery guy with bags on the outside of it, she watched as Oliver went to get their food and started making room on his desk, which was a lot cleaner than it had been when they started working on the files about six hours ago. She'd told Jimmy she would be at work but didn't give him specifics other than not to wait her for dinner, which he didn't exactly seem bothered about as he informed her he was driving to Smallville to hang out with Clark and watch... whatever sporting event that was on that day.

They had been spending less and less time together since she started working at the Planet a couple weeks ago and instead of missing him she felt... lighter. She knew what it meant and she knew they had to talk, but she wasn't ready for it, not yet.

"Is this still the best Chinese food in Metropolis?" Oliver asked with a small smile as he carried the bags to his desk and set them down.

"By far," she told him, grinning softly and taking some bags from him, helping him set everything on the table.

"Been awhile. I think I've forgotten," he told her, pulling the cartons from the bags and handing her some plastic silverware, their fingers brushing lightly and causing him to pause for a moment.

She paused too and blinked because her chest felt tight all of the sudden, she looked at him and raised her eyebrows, the look on his face telling her that whatever she felt, he did too.

He swallowed hard, looking down at their hands for a moment and then drawing in a breath. "Well, it smells good," he said, his voice a little quieter this time.

Chloe had to blink a couple of times before she managed to nod, "yeah, it does," she pulled her hand away and reached for her purse, "I'll go get us some sodas from the vending machine, what do you want?"

"Anything's fine," he told her softly.

"Okay," she turned to look at him, holding his gaze for a moment then brushing past him as she made her way to the door. He tensed just a little as she moved past him and he watched her go, his gaze intense.

Chloe slipped out of the room and took a deep breath, her heart beating fast even as she walked down the hall. She didn't know what had just happened, but she was pretty sure it hadn't been one-sided.

* * *

A half hour and several nearly-empty containers of Chinese food later, Oliver leaned back in his chair, finishing off his soda, setting his gaze upon her again. He'd hardly taken his eyes off her since she'd returned to his office.

There had been a lot less conversation than usual during the meal and Chloe couldn't help but notice the fact that Oliver was watching her closely, it wasn't exactly making her uncomfortable however it was making her... anxious, for some reason. "So, still the best?" She tried.

"Without question," he agreed with a slight nod, reluctantly rising to his feet and beginning to clear away the containers.

She finished her soda and moved to stand up too to help him, "good, wouldn't want to disappoint you."

"Don't think you're capable of it," he informed her, glancing at her once more.

Her heart was beating quickly but her face softened a little as she watched him in silence from where they both stood by his desk, "I have before."

He paused at that, the breath catching in his throat. "That was--things were different. It was a lot more...complicated," he murmured.

"You still left because of it," she whispered, her eyes on his face.

Oliver felt his chest tighten. "I left because of me. Not you, Chloe."

At that, she frowned a little, "out of all of us, you were the only one right in that situation, Ollie."

"Like I said. Things were complicated." He looked down at the floor.

"Yes, they were," she whispered, finally looking away and going back to gather boxes.

Without thinking about it, he reached out and caught her arm in a gentle grasp. "Chloe."

Chloe swallowed and took a deep breath before turning her head up to look at him.

Oliver met her eyes, stepping closer to her. "I was wrong about a lot of things," he murmured.

"Not about that," she said seriously, holding his gaze and searching his eyes, "I should have listened to you."

"No. I wanted to take the easy way out," he said softly.

"It wasn't the easy way out, Oliver. It was the only way out." And she would know, better than all of them.

"I didn't know that then. Not really." He swallowed hard, looking down for a moment, and then back up at her. "At least you wanted to try other options first."

"I shouldn't have..." she whispered, still looking at him, "in the very least, I should have let Clark send him to the Phantom Zone."

"You're not the kind of person who condemns someone to suffer needlessly if there might be another way." He pause, gazing at her. "That's a _good_ thing, Chloe."

"He _almost_ killed Jimmy, Oliver, even as a human, he would have done it if I hadn't--" she trailed off, shaking her head, "some people don't deserve a second chance."

"He didn't kill him," he said quietly. "But you're right. Some people don't." His voice grew even softer and he looked away.

Chloe blinked at his words and frowned, moving even closer as she watched him, "you better not be talking about yourself."

"It doesn't matter," he said, turning to look at her once more.

"Yes, it does," she told him, frowning still as she lifted a hand to his arm, searching his eyes, "what's going on, Ollie? What would make you feel that way?"

Oliver gazed at her intently, the warmth from her hand making his arm tingle with sensation. He opened his mouth to respond when his cell phone began to ring.

Chloe had to blink before she could look away, it felt like they had been in this intense connection that had suddenly been broken when the phone rang. She dropped her hand and looked around, her eyes falling on his desk where the phone was vibrating.

"Sorry," he murmured, swallowing hard as he reluctantly moved away from her to pick up his phone. From the ringtone, he knew already that it was Victor or AC. Drawing in a breath, he opened it and placed it to his ear. "Hello?"

She took a long, deep breath as he walked away from her, rubbing her hand over her face for a moment before going back to gathering take out boxes as she tried to give him some privacy.

Oliver was silent for a long moment, listening to Victor's voice on the other end of the line. "Where?" He paused again, glancing over his shoulder at Chloe and letting out a breath. "Vancouver? Really?"

Chloe frowned a little and looked up from the bag she had finished gathering their left overs in, she knew his tone and she could only guess this was Green Arrow-related.

He met her eyes for a moment. "Just let me know when and the exact location."

She held his gaze and frowned a little more, setting the bag down on the chair she'd been using.

"All right. I'll be in touch." He hung up the phone, still gazing at Chloe.

"What's going on?" She asked the second he hung up, studying him closely and turning to face him fully, if he didn't want her to know what his conversation had been about, he wouldn't have been looking at her.

"That was Victor," he told her without hesitation. "They think they've found something in Vancouver." He paused. "A 33.1."

Her stomach dropped instantly and her eyes widened, "a 33.1?" She echoed, shaking her head, "but that's impossible, Oliver. It would mean--" she trailed off, watching him still, this time with an alarmed look on her face.

"Lex may be dead, Chloe, but he left enough of his scientists behind with well-funded projects to last a lifetime," he said quietly.

She took a deep breath and pursed her lips together then nodded, the thought that it wasn't Lex, even if that would have been highly unlikely to begin with, was comforting. "Who is working on it?"

"Bart found it apparently. Vic and AC are on their way there now. They're still trying to reach Dinah."

"Are you going?" She asked, raising her eyebrows a little.

He paused for a moment. "They'll need someone to run the mission." He met her eyes once more. "Know anyone who might be interested?"

Her heart skipped a beat as she held his gaze in silence, "what about you?"

"I think I've got my work cut out for me here." He glanced around his office.

"You want _me_ to go instead of you?" She gasped quietly.

Oliver turned to look at her once more. "Not inside the facility of course, but..."

"Oliver, I haven't been out there, even as Watchtower, in over two years." She told him quietly, her eyes still wide. As much as she wanted to cling to the opportunity, she couldn't risk their lives because she was rusty.

"There's no pressure, Chloe," he said softly. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want to!" She told him, a little too quickly, "but I can't do it without you, especially not when I've been out this long."

He gazed at her for a moment. "All right."

Chloe took a deep breath and kept her eyes on him, trying to process what was about to happen, "you said it was in Vancouver?"

Oliver nodded slightly. "Is that going to be okay?" His voice was quiet.

She held her breath, her jaw tightening slightly as she remembered time and time again when Jimmy insinuated she wasn't doing anything that mattered because she wasn't working with him and Clark. Nodding, she held her head up, "he has his own superhero to play sidekick to, I have mine."

His chest tightened a little at that. "A team of them," he murmured.

Her face fell a little at that and she looked away, sure it all sounded great so far, but, "do you think they will be okay with me getting involved?" She asked quietly, before looking at him again.

"Absolutely," he said without hesitation. "Chloe, they never blamed you for anything."

She was silent for a moment then nodded a little, "as long as you are sure they will be okay with it..." she trailed off, "when do we leave?"

Oliver shook his head. "Vic's going to get more details and call me back. So as soon as we know anything."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slowly, "do you still have equipment I can use?" She asked, looking up at him.

"We've upgraded," he told her with a small smile. "But yeah."

She nodded a little and took a deep breath, "when we get back, I'll help you finish getting caught up," she promised him quietly, wondering where his lack of enthusiasm was coming from.

"I appreciate that," he said quietly, searching her eyes. "I appreciate you helping me out here, Chloe."

"I appreciate you letting me help, Ollie," she told him sincerely, "here and with the team."

He reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You always have a place on the team." He paused. "And here, now."

She stilled for a second, then, without thinking about it, leaned her head slightly into his touch, just searching his eyes for the longest moment. "What is it with you, whenever things are going far from how I planned, you come in and save me from my life?" She asked in a whisper.

He felt his chest tighten at her words, his heart beating a little more quickly. "Just good luck, I guess."

"Thank you," she said in a very quiet whisper that was also filled with emotions which she wasn't sure where they were coming from.

Oliver shifted closer to her without thinking about it, his hand still lingering at her cheek.

Chloe leaned into his touch a little more and lifted her hand to his shoulder, silently willing him closer.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew they were quickly approaching very dangerous, shaky territory, but he couldn't stop himself from leaning in and brushing his lips lightly against the corner of her mouth.

She had been about to close her eyes and turn her head so that her mouth could meet his but then, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the small rock from the ring on her finger shining against the ceiling lamp and her stomach dropped at the same time as her chest tightened and she pulled her head back and turned her face away from him, closing her eyes tightly. What the hell was she doing?

The moment she turned her face, he felt his stomach tighten. He let his hand fall from her face. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, taking a step back from her.

"No," Chloe whispered, rubbing her hand down his arm as she moved to drop it, she didn't want to lose physical contact with him, but she knew she had to, "I'm sorry," she told him quietly, taking a deep breath, "I should go."

Oliver shut his eyes, forcing himself to take a deep breath, as well. "I uh--do you still want me to call you when Victor contacts me?" There was a hint of uncertainty his voice as he wondered if he'd already blown it, if they'd already crossed a line that couldn't be uncrossed.

"Yes," she said quietly, throwing her things in her purse and sighing softly, "if you're still okay with me coming."

"I am," he said just as quietly. 

Once she was done grabbing her things, she finally looked up at him again, "I'll start packing then. I'll see you soon."  
Oliver nodded slightly, meeting her eyes for a very brief moment before looking away. "All right."

"Bye," she whispered to him as she left his office, her head spinning, her heart beating fast against her chest. She had never, not once, considered infidelity before, no matter how bad things had gotten with Jimmy, even despite the fact that they hadn't had sex in the past three or four months, or that they had been spending most nights on separate beds. And yet, all of the sudden, something that had been completely innocent had almost turned into just that.

She rubbed her hands over her face and leaned heavily against the elevator wall once she was inside. She had to pull herself together before she got home because she couldn't have the conversation about the team with Jimmy while she felt guilty about what had _almost_ happened.


	7. Chapter 7

Before going home, Chloe had to take a walk, a long walk. To clear her mind and do her best to ignore any and all thoughts about the fact that she and Oliver had _almost_ kissed. When she was sure she had managed it, she walked back to the Planet and took her car before driving home. She wasn't surprised to find that Jimmy was already there, it was probably past nine already after all. Besides, this was good, she wanted to inform him of the trip while she still had some time before leaving because if she knew how the team worked at all, whenever Oliver got the call from Victor, it would be a matter of hours before they were in the air.

She walked into the Watchtower quietly and glanced at Jimmy, who was watching TV on the couch, then turned her back to him so she could lock the door and also give herself some time to figure out the best way to word this, although, she had the feeling it wouldn't matter how she worded it once she mentioned Oliver was involved.

"Working late again?" His voice was distant, but not in a cold way. Just in a 'I'm only talking because it's the polite thing to do but really I'm watching TV' tone.

"Yeah," she told him, slipping off of her shoes and leaving them by the door, "how was the game?" She asked, in the same polite but disinterested tone, it was how the more peaceful conversations usually went between them.

"Good," he answered without looking up.

She made her way to the kitchen table and dropped her purse and keys on top of it before turning around and looking at him in silence for a long moment then took a deep breath and a couple of steps in his direction, "I need to talk to you."

Jimmy didn't answer at first, his eyes still on the television. Then, finally, he glanced up at her. "What's up?"

Chloe looked at him for a moment longer, "I'll be going to Vancouver sometime soon, probably in the next couple of days, I'm not sure yet and I'm not sure how long I'll be gone."

He raised an eyebrow, looking at her with confusion clouding his expression. "Vancouver?"

She took another step in his direction, "I'm resuming my position with the team."

He was silent for a moment, staring at her. "The team?" he echoed.

"The team I used to work with before--" she paused meaningfully, her voice quiet, "doing something similar to what you and Clark do."

"You mean the Justice League." He rose to his feet, still watching her intently.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, watching him close too as he stood, "yes."

He nodded a little. "So what's in Vancouver?"

She considered her answer for a moment, it felt weird talking to Jimmy about this, and although she knew he had met a few of the members here and there through his work with Clark, she didn't know details of how much she knew about each of them, "there seems to be another 33.1." She told him, wondering if the term meant anything to him.

"Again?" He frowned.

Her jaw tensed slightly at the recognition in his tone. She knew Clark and Jimmy had stopped sharing their 'superhero business' with her long time ago, but she would have thought that if a 33.1 had surfaced, she would have been called for help. Her mistake, as usual. "Yes," she said simply in response, if she couldn't get information about their missions, she wouldn't share anything about hers.

Jimmy watched her for a moment. "Why don't you just let me and Clark take care of it?" he suggested. "I'm sure the guys have better things to do and CK can get rid of the place in like, two minutes flat."

Her lips twitched into a humorless smile, "we already have people up there." She said simply.

"We?" He frowned a little.

"The team," she told him, keeping things as vague as possible.

He stepped closer to her. "Well, if the team's on it, CK will want to know."

"He's not part of the team, this is none of his business, Jimmy." She told him seriously.

Jimmy's eyes narrowed. "Of course it's his business. He's _Superman_ , Chloe."

" _Superman_ will be busy enough with other things," she told him, her expression a mix of neutrality and disinterest, Jimmy's adoration for Clark had gotten old a long time ago, "this is _our_ mission and I'm telling you about where I'm going because I should let you know so you won't worry about me, but the contents of the mission are none of your or Clark's business." 

His jaw tensed a little. "Fine," he said distantly, cold this time. "When should I expect you back?" 

"I don't know," she said, turning away from him and starting toward her laptop as she sensed the conversation was pretty much over, "Oliver will let me know when he gets more information and I'll give you an estimate."

Jimmy stared at her back for a long moment. "Oliver?" he repeated.

 _Shit_. Her jaw tensed instantly as she realized her wording. She had almost made it, but she had to mention him. There was a wave of guilt but she instantly pushed it away, she couldn't focus on _that_ right now. Instead, she took a deep breath and nodded, doing her best to brush this off as nothing, "yes, Oliver." She told him as she reached to boot up her laptop as casually as she could.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, Jimmy, I'm not. The Justice League is _his_ team." She managed to say calmly as she turned to face her husband once more.

"No. Forget about it. You're _not_ going," he informed her, shaking his head.

Chloe blinked and raised her eyebrows, "excuse me?"

"You're not going," he said again, anger in his voice. "Not with him."

"Yes, I am." She told him firmly but didn't raise her voice as she held his gaze, "I'm not asking you for permission, Jimmy, I'm _informing_ you."

He stepped toward her, shaking his head. "No," he repeated. "You know what that jackass did to Clark. He shot him in the back, Chloe!"

Her jaw tightened, "I'm _not_ having this conversation with you again," she told him tightly, "you don't like Oliver, you want to side with Clark without even _really_ knowing the full story? That's fine, it's your problem." She was doing her best to stop herself from yelling but she was losing her battle against her anger, "but _I_ trust him and I'm _honored_ to be invited to be a part of his team again."

Jimmy snorted. "That's pathetic, Chloe. Do you even know how pathetic that sounds?" He glared at her. "He could have _killed_ CK. Or Doomsday could have killed even more people than he did if I hadn't shown up and pulled that arrow from CK's back."

" _What_ is pathetic about it, Jimmy?" She demanded, her voice finally getting louder, "I was there, every step of the way, I know exactly what Oliver did and you are _so_ ready to accuse him, do you even remember who cleaned up after us? Who took care of Davis' body and made sure there were no traces of him or _any_ evidence that could put us in the crime scene?" She demanded, "It was _Oliver_ who helped us, not Clark!"

"Yeah, what a _great_ , upstanding guy," he said sarcastically. "You realize of course that if Oliver hadn't shot Clark in the back, you wouldn't have had to murder Davis in the first place, right?"

"You _think_ Clark would have done what was necessary to get rid of Davis?" Chloe said even louder, her entire body tense, "he would have sent Davis to that prison of his and he would have come back, like everything else he ever sent to the Phantom Zone, Jimmy! You need to _stop_ living under Clark's shadow and taking in his every word like it's a rule! Get an opinion for yourself!"

"You know maybe if _you_ listened to Clark a little more often I wouldn't have to worry about you traipsing off across the globe with a guy who's likely to stab you in the back," he said darkly, moving past her, his shoulder bumping her backwards a little. "Literally."

Although she stumbled slightly, she decided to ignore the contact as she turned around to watch his retreating back, "the _only_ way Oliver would ever drug me like he did Clark would be to _protect_ me, also like he did with Clark." She took in a breath, "and you know what, Jimmy? I trust Oliver. I trust him one hundred percent and I trust him with my life."

"Then you're an idiot," Jimmy said bluntly.

Her eyes widened and she stepped forward, toward him, "don't you _dare_ talk to me like that."

"Then don't _act_ like _that_ ," he spat, turning to face her once more.

Chloe's jaw was tight as she watched him closely, "like _what_ , Jimmy? Not bending over backwards to agree with _Clark's_ every opinion? Because _you_ don't have any of your own."

"You know what, Chloe? Go on. Go with _Oliver_ to Canada. Have a great time. But when he turns on you, don't say I didn't warn you," he told her harshly, turning and heading for the stairs.

"That won't happen, Jimmy." She told him, "it comes with being a team, but you wouldn't know anything about that." She said simply, turning away and walking back to her laptop.

"Whatever you say," he responded, taking the stairs two at a time. "It's your night for the sofa."

"Screw you," she said in disgust, turning around again and glaring at him "I'm tired of this, I'm going to Lois'."

"Shocking," he called over his shoulder, not turning around as he disappeared down the hall.

"Fuck you," she murmured, watching him for a moment longer then turning around and slamming her laptop shut before walking over to the bedroom, no matter how long it took for her to go to Vancouver, she didn't plan on going back there and seeing him and if she had to to pick up something, she would make sure it was while he wasn't there.

* * * 

She woke up with a start, momentarily unsure of where she was until she spotted the glowing green digits of the alarm clock on her nightstand. Drawing in a breath, she raked a hand through her dark hair, frowning as she tried to remember the dream she'd been having. And then the knock on her door made her sit up, her eyebrows furrowing. It was almost 11, and while she usually spent most of her nights up working on articles for the Daily Planet, she'd been having weird dreams lately that made her groggy. She'd thought going to bed earlier might help, but so far she'd just spent more time having the dreams. Drawing in a breath, she moved toward the door, wrapping her robe around her on the way. She looked out the peep hole on her apartment door, worry clouding her eyes as she spotted Chloe in the hallway. She quickly unlocked the door, opened it and stepped aside. "Chlo?"

Chloe took a deep breath and tried for a smile, "hey," she said to her cousin as she stepped inside the apartment with two small suitcases, her purse and laptop bag.

"What happened?" she asked immediately, closing the door behind Chloe and locking it once more.

She set down her suitcases with a sigh of relief then placed her laptop bag and purse over the counter, "I got tired of it."

Lois was silent for a moment and then she wrapped her arms around Chloe tightly, kissing her temple. "It's gonna be okay."

Chloe returned the hug instantly and wrapped her arms just as tightly around her cousin, nodding a little, "I know, thank you, Lo." She said quietly, closing her eyes. 

"We'll call a lawyer first thing in the morning." Lois tightened her arms around her just a little. "See what steps we should take. And you can stay here as long as you need. Hell, you can stay here forever."

"Wait, Lo," Chloe shook her head a little, "I'm not dealing with any of that right now." She told her as she pulled back enough to look up at her cousin, "I just couldn't stay there."

A moment of confusion rendered Lois speechless, and then she looked at Chloe worried. "But this is for good right?"

Chloe honestly hadn't thought about that, what _exactly_ her packing her bags and going to stay with her cousin meant. She just had been so angry, so tired, she had to get away from him, but now that Lois mentioned it... "I thinks so?" Chloe whispered uncertainly as she processed what she was talking about.

She was quiet for a moment. "Okay, you know what? You're tired. Why don't you just get into some comfy pajamas and we'll go to sleep and talk about all this in the morning. Okay?" Lois rested her hands on Chloe's shoulders.

With a deep breath, she nodded a little in agreement then looked down at her bags, trying to remember which one her pajamas were in, "we just argued again and I couldn't stand to be around him anymore," Chloe said quietly as she reached to open one of her suitcases, feeling like she owed her cousin some explanation.

"He doesn't deserve to be around you," Lois informed her without hesitation. "You want me to make you some tea? Or hot chocolate?"

"No, thank you," Chloe told her, going through her clothes silently, her chest tightening as she thought about the other subject she had been considering whether or not to tell her cousin about.

"Everything's going to be fine," Lois said again. "We'll figure it all out."

"Thanks, Lo," Chloe told her as she retrieved her pajamas from her suitcase, "and thanks for letting me stay."

"You know you're always welcome here, Chloe." She rubbed a hand over her face.

With a deep breath, she tried for a smile and nodded then finally took her cousin in, "were you in bed already?"

"Yeah, but it's no big deal," Lois assured her with a tired smile. "You know me. I'll be asleep again the second my head hits the pillow."

Even if Chloe knew that was true, it wasn't like her cousin to be in bed before two, let alone before eleven, "are you feeling okay?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lois assured her. "Just a little tired lately. Nothing to worry about."

Chloe nodded a little, but watched Lois closely for a long moment, "go ahead and go back to bed," she assured her, holding on to her pajamas, "I need a quick shower still."

"All right. I'll see you in a few." She yawned involuntarily and headed back toward her bedroom.

She watched as Lois left and took a deep breath, she'd have to sleep with Lois tonight, but she would have to come up with something else if she was going to spend an undetermined amount of time there.

* * * 

It was nearly ten the next morning when Oliver finally dialed Chloe's cell phone number. He stared out the glass windows of the clock tower, his gut already tightening. 

He'd almost kissed her. 

Smooth, Queen. He raked a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. That would be an all new low, even for him.

Chloe hadn't managed to fall asleep until almost 5 that morning, when she did go to bed around 3, Lois kept tossing, turning and kicking in her sleep, Chloe tried waking her out of the obvious nightmares she was having but it hadn't worked, it wasn't until she took Lois' hand in hers that she finally calmed down enough for them both to fall asleep. And then, what if felt like five minutes later, her phone was ringing.

Groaning, Chloe sat up and rubbed her hands over her face, she'd been sleeping at her cousin's so often lately that she didn't even find it weird waking up there anymore, she pushed herself up off of the bed and dragged herself into the living room, picking her phone up from her purse, which was still on the floor where she'd left the previous night, "hello?" She answered groggily. 

"Chloe?" He frowned a little. "Did I wake you?"

"If it's that asshole, tell him I'm gonna kick his ass!" Lois yelled, sleepily but angrily from the bedroom.

Chloe winced, "it's okay, it's Ollie," she told her cousin, suddenly feeling a lot more awake as she turned to speak into the phone once more, "yeah, but it's okay," she assured him, "what's going on?"

"The jet's being fueled up to leave in two hours." He paused. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah I'm okay," she told him, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just--heard Lois yelling." He rubbed the back of his neck.

She pulled the phone away and took a deep breath, nodding a little as she closed her eyes, "yeah, I'm, hm, I'm at her place." She admitted quietly.

"Oh," he murmured. "And you're sure you're all right?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," she told him, not sure why she didn't just tell him what had happened, but she had the feeling that it was because in the back of her mind, she knew that what had happened between the two of them probably had something to do with her actions later that evening, "so you know how long we'll be gone for?"

"A couple of days, max," he said quietly. "It should be a fairly routine mission." 

"Okay," Chloe said with a nod, then took a deep breath, "should I meet you at the airport in two hours, then?"

"Unless you'd rather I picked you up. Whichever would be easiest for you."

She considered for a moment then shook her head, "if you don't mind? Sounds silly to have two cars at the airport when we are less than a block away, or I can pick you up too," she told him.

A small smile touched his lips. "I'll pick you up," he assured her. "It's not a problem. So uh--I guess I'll see you in a couple hours then."

"Okay," Chloe agreed, looking down at her suitcases, "just let me know when you're leaving if you don't wanna come upstairs."

"Will do." He paused. "Thanks--again. For agreeing to help out."

"It really means a lot to me that you want me to in the first place, Ollie," Chloe told him sincerely, "so I should be thanking you."

"Not necessary," he said quietly. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," she agreed, hesitating for a second before hanging up, she still had to shift some things from one suitcase to another so she would only have to take the smaller one, and more importantly, tell Lois why she was going out of town with Oliver for a couple of days.

"Everything all right?" Lois asked, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes as she yawned.

"Yeah," Chloe assured her cousin as she walked back inside the bedroom, "I'm actually going out of town for a couple of days."

She glanced over her shoulder at Chloe, raising an eyebrow. "With Ollie?"

"Yeah," she told her, phone still in hand, "not sure exactly when we'll get back, but I'm leaving in two hours."

"I'm assuming this has to do with another job that you used to have that involved Ollie's fetish for green leather?" She raised her other eyebrow, as well.

Chloe smiled softly and nodded, "he asked if I would mind helping and," she shrugged a little, "I miss it."

Lois watched her for a moment. "I know you do," she admitted, offering her a smile back. "It'll be good for you." She paused. "You'll be completely safe the entire time, right?"

"Yeah," Chloe assured her, "I'll just be there to guide them, I'm not going into the location."

She relaxed a little, nodding. "Good." She rose to her feet. "And maybe you'll be able to figure out what's going on with Ollie while you're at it."

"It's not just me, then?" Chloe said quietly, "maybe the boys will be able to tell me something if I manage to be alone with one of them."

"It's definitely not just you. Oliver Queen isn't a man that drinks alone unless something's wrong. Granted, I haven't really kept in touch with him the last couple of years, but some things don't change," Lois said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, thinking for a long moment then nodding, "I'll see what I can get out of him during the trip."

"Good." Lois watched her for a moment, studying her closely. "And maybe you can find a nice beach to lay on for a few hours, too," she suggested.

"If we have time," Chloe reminded Lois.

"You make time for the beach," she responded cheerfully.

Chloe smiled softly and shook her head, "I need to finish packing."

"All right, but don't forget to pack a bathing suit." Lois headed for the bathroom.

With a soft smile, she shook her head and walked back to the living room to work on her suitcase. Maybe she would, just in case.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a four hour flight from Metropolis to Vancouver, but the plane's takeoff had been delayed a hour by a sudden storm that had broken across the Metropolis skyline. He was leaned back in his seat and took a drink of his coffee, glancing across the aisle to where Chloe sat, looking over the schematics to the facility that Vic had emailed that morning.

"It doesn't look too complicated," she said a long moment later, "there is only one entrance like most of them," Chloe told him, turning the laptop so he could see it too and pointing, "except, this section is above water, so we can have Bart and AC going in through here," she pointed, "and you and Vic can go in through the back of the building, from the pictures he sent, this area," she pointed, "is where the main AC control should be so you can use the tunnels."

Oliver's gaze followed her finger across the screen, his chest tightening a little. "Yeah. That's...that's good. See? Right back into the routine."

Chloe held her breath and smiled a little, pursing her lips together, "I guess this is kind of like the whole riding a bike thing?" She said, raising her eyes from the computer and looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Something like that," he agreed softly, nodding a little.

She turned her head a little more and watched him for a long moment, "are you okay?"

He turned his head and met her gaze for a brief moment. "Me? Yeah. Coffee just hasn't completely kicked in yet."

"You sure that's all it is?" She asked quietly, her eyes still on his face.

"I'm all right, Chloe," he assured her. "You want more coffee?"

"I still got some, thanks," she told him, looking at him for a moment longer before looking back at the computer.

"Right," he murmured, nodding and then looking out the window.

She sighed softly and glanced back at him for a moment before focusing on her computer, silent for a long moment, "is this about yesterday?" She asked finally.

Oliver blinked and glanced at her once more. "Is what about yesterday?" he asked uncertainly.

"The fact that you seem so uncomfortable," she said quietly, turning her head to look at him.

"I'm not--" He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "It's not you, Chloe."

"Then what is it, Ollie?" She asked, shaking her head a little, "because if there is something that is bothering you so much I can tell just by looking at you, it must be big, and if it is big, it might cloud your judgment when you're out there and I can't have that."

A hint of a smile touched his lips at her take-charge attitude, but inwardly he winced at the words. "I'm not going in," he admitted.

At that, she paused, frowning in confusion, "you're not?"

He shook his head a little, downing the rest of his coffee and rising to his feet to go and get more.

"Why not?" She asked, turning on her seat to watch him.

Oliver drew in a breath and moved to the back of the plane, pouring himself a cup of coffee as he considered his words carefully. "I haven't really been sleeping well lately," he told her, glancing at her over his shoulder, adding some sugar and cream to the coffee. "Just probably not the best idea."

"Oliver..." Chloe stood too, but didn't step closer, "talk to me."

His chest tightened a little and he took a drink, wondering how it was she could still see though him so easily. "I'm just a little overwhelmed with everything. Luthor Corp and QI and now the Daily Planet. It's really nothing to worry about." 

She sighed a little and nodded, looking at him for a moment. She knew that whatever it was, it was bigger than that, but he was obviously not ready to talk about it, so she wasn't going to push him, if he wasn't going in, then it really didn't get in the way of anything. "Okay."

Oliver watched her for a few seconds, then looked down at his mug. "You spent the night at Lois'?"

Chloe stilled for a moment then turned her back to him, moving to take her seat once more, "yeah."

"You and Jimmy had another fight," he said softly. It wasn't a question.

"I was expecting it," she told him, focusing her eyes on the screen, even though she wasn't really seeing it.

"Because of the mission?" He kept his gaze on her.

"Because he tried to tell me that I _couldn't_ come," she told him, she had no intention of letting him know that it had more to do with the fact that she was going with him than the fact that she was going on a mission.

Oliver's eyebrows rose. "He has _met_ you, right?" He couldn't help but ask.

She couldn't help but smirk a little at that. She turned to look at him and raised her eyebrows right back, "don't worry, he won't be telling me that again."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Good." 

Chloe smiled a little back at him then turned her attention to the computer once again. That seemed to be enough information for now.

He watched her for a moment, then slowly sat down in his own seat once more.

"They are going in tonight, then?" She asked after a long moment as she changed the plans she had in mind, typing them up to let the boys know ahead of time what the plan was.

"Yeah," he said softly, looking out the window again. "Tonight."

"Okay," she nodded a little and as soon as she finished planning the mission, she would start planning ways to get Ollie to tell her exactly what was going on.

* * *

Oliver's entire body was tense as he watched the computer screen intently, his eyes tracking the red dot there. "Two guards up ahead, Impulse," he informed Bart through the communicator, feeling Chloe shift beside him in her own chair.

"Far behind now, Arrow." Bart spoke with a smirk.

She was sitting on the very edge of her chair and it was a miracle that it wasn't tipping over, she was typing quickly as she switched back and forth on the screens, "Aquaman, what's your status?"

"I'm in, Watchtower," AC informed her even as he zipped his suit closed.

"So am I," Vic reported, glancing around the corridors.

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

"Okay," Chloe took a deep breath and sat up, looking at Ollie for a second, "the hostages are in the northwest part of the building, there only seems to be five or so of them but they haven't moved so I'm guessing they are unconscious."

"On the way," Vic told her. "I'll get them out while Aquaman puts the dynamite in place and Impulse takes care of the security."

"Way ahead of you as usual," Bart said cheerfully, "Northwest is clean, going through the route out now." He informed the others.

Chloe couldn't help but grin at that, "good job, Impulse," she told him, "since it looks like you'll have some free time, then, you can always help them with those hostages."

"Did I mention it's good to have you back on board, Tower?" AC questioned as he headed down the hall, strategically placing dynamite along the way.

"Trust me, it's good to be back, Aquaman," she told him, "but it will be even better once we get through this."

"We always do," Vic assured her with a smirk.

Oliver glanced at Chloe sideways, then focused his gaze on the computer screen once more.

She noticed the glance and looked at him, frowning a little at the look on his face, but it wasn't time for that yet, "how far out are you, Cyborg?"

"About a minute out, Watchtower," he reported.

Oliver reached out and picked up his cup of coffee, drinking it down quickly. "Aquaman, what's your status?"

"Almost done, Arrow," AC told Oliver.

Chloe caught herself staring at Oliver for a second longer, he was definitely way more stressed about this operation than she ever remembered him being before.

"Dynamite is all in place. Should I head to the rendezvous point or help with hostages?" AC asked, giving himself a moment to breathe.

"Help the hostages, we do have five of them and Impulse is still busy," Chloe told him, "you're not far, there should be a long corridor North of you that will lead you straight there."

"On the way, Watchtower," he told her, heading down the hallway.

Oliver's eyes followed AC's orange dot on the screen, his gaze focused and intense. Then he shifted his gaze to Bart's dot. "Impulse, where are you?"

"Almost done, Arrow," Bart told him, punching a guard in the face before quickly tying him up and removing him from the building where he'd been leaving all of the security so they could explode the building without any casualties, "think I'm down to the last two, do you see anymore of them?"

Oliver looked at his screen and then at Chloe's. "There's a couple in the South corridor," he informed him, his leg bouncing a little. 

"Got it," Bart told him, starting in that direction.

"Just located the hostages, Tower," Vic told her, "looks like you were right about them being unconscious, they're all hooked to machines so I'll need some time in here."

"You've got time," she assured him, frowning a little as she realized Oliver's leg and without thinking about it, she reached out and placed her hand on his knee, her eyes on his face.

He turned his head to look at her, momentarily thrown by her actions. Then he gave her a small, sheepish smile, shrugging. "Sorry," he whispered.

She shook her head, watching him worriedly, "it's okay," she assured him, "but I got it if you need a break." She said quietly.

Oliver shook his head, as well. "I'm all right." He glanced down at her hand for a moment, then back at the screens.

"Located Cyborg and the hostages," AC reported.

Chloe nodded, still looking at him as she pulled her hand back.

"Okay, I think now I got them all," Bart told them, "can you guys check?"

Oliver's gaze searched the screens intently. "All the guards appear to be gone, Impulse," he reported.

"In that case," he paused, appearing in the hostage room moments later, "I'm with Cyborg and Aquaman."

He relaxed, but just a little, nodding even though Bart couldn't see him.

"Prisoners are all stabilized, we're moving them now," Victor reported, carrying a young woman in his arms and heading toward the exit.

"Two down," Bart told them as he picked up a second one.

"I got one too." AC added.

"Okay, Impulse, can you go back for the last one?" Chloe asked, holding her breath a little.

"I'm already on the way back," AC volunteered. "I'll get the last one." 

"Okay," Chloe agreed, "are the other four okay?" She asked them.

"Seem to be all right, but still unconscious," Victor told her. "Should probably have Impulse take them to the hospital."

"Impulse, go ahead and get started on that," she told him, "you should be able to make it back in time for the fireworks," she said with a smirk.

"As long as they don't start without me," he said, already on his way to the nearest hospital with the first hostage.

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, relaxing a little more and pouring himself another cup of coffee.

And that was when he could hear the wail of alarms sounding in the background. "What's going on? Cyborg, Aquaman?"

"Someone turned the alarms back on," Chloe said, eyes widening as she held her breath, she pushed her chair back, causing it to hit the ground as she stood up quickly and started typing, "the facility is on lockdown, Aquaman, are you out yet?"

"I'm working on it, Watchtower."

Oliver rose to his feet, his heart beating quickly in his chest. "Impulse, where are you?"

"On my way back," Bart said, tension clear in his voice.

"I'm trying to overwrite their system but it's not working," Chloe said as she typed furiously.

"I'll see what I can do," Vic added.

"Don't go back in there," she warned him.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair, holding his breath as he watched the orange dot on the screen approaching the exit. "Come on, come on," he said under his breath.

Chloe's stomach was in knots as she kept her eyes on the screen while completely aware that Oliver was standing right there and muttering nervously.

There was a long silence between all five of them, all they could hear was the alarm from the communicators of those who were in and around the facility.

And then, "got them," Bart breathed, still not completely sure how he had managed to carry both AC and the hostage outside.

Oliver shut his eyes, rubbing his hands over his face as he moved away from the computers. "Good work, Team."

Chloe let out a breath, closing her eyes for a second and relaxing as she placed her hands on the desk in front of her for support, "is everyone okay?"

"We're all fine," Victor told her, glancing over at AC and Bart. "One minute til fireworks."

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck, then leaned down and picked up Chloe's chair, setting it in its upright position once more.

"Looking forward to it," Chloe said, smiling a little, "will make sure pizza is on it's way."

"Awesome, I'll need like, twenty," Bart said as he took the last hostage to the hospital.

Chloe grinned a little, "I can do that, Watchtower out."

Oliver let out a shaky breath as he shut off his communicator a moment later. "And another one bites the dust." 

She slid the ear piece from her ear and placed it on the desk, on top of the laptop before turning to look at Oliver, who looked incredibly pale and shaky, "hey," Chloe said quietly, her suspicions that whatever reason had stopped him from going on this mission was something that probably had gone wrong on a previous mission being confirmed, "are you okay?"

He nodded quickly, raking a hand through his hair once more. "Yeah, I'm good. Was just a little nerve-wracking for a minute." Even as he said the words, he knew she'd see through them, through him. It was why she'd always been good at her job in the first place.

Chloe watched him for a long moment then walked over to the small fridge in the hotel room they were staying at and picked up a cold bottle of water, handing it to him silently, he looked like he was about to have a panic attack or something.

"Thanks," he said quietly, taking it from her and exhaling slowly as he opened it, taking a long drink of the cold water and letting his eyes close.

She placed a hand on his arm and nudged him toward one of the beds, "you should sit down."

Oliver let her guide him over to one of the beds and he sat down on the edge of it wordlessly.

Chloe kept her eyes on him for a long moment then turned around, walking back to the computer and starting to type once again. She had to stop herself from asking, hopefully, she would manage to talk to one of the boys once they got back.

* * *

Victor had finished eating a late dinner with the others--sans Oliver, whom apparently had a migraine--or so he claimed--and was on his way back to his own hotel room when he felt a hand on his arm before he could step off the elevator. He turned to glance at Chloe, meeting her eyes. "What's up?" he asked with a warm smile.

"I was hoping to catch one of you alone," she admitted, smiling softly, "can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course." Vic nodded and offered her his arm. "Should we take a walk?" 

"Sounds good," she told him, smiling a little more and watching as the elevator doors closed once more as she pushed the main lobby button.

"It's good to have you back," he told her sincerely, patting her hand lightly.

"Thank you for having me back, all of you," she told him, "it means a lot to me."

He smiled at that. "No problem." The elevator doors slid open again and he led her off the elevator and toward the hotel lobby exit door. "So what do you want to talk about?" he asked, though he had a suspicion he already knew.

"Well," she took a deep breath as they stepped outside, "I'm just trying to understand things better," she admitted, looking out at the ocean across the street then back at Vic, "Ollie isn't doing well, is he?"

Victor was silent for a moment and then he sighed softly. "No, he's not," he admitted.

"What happened?" Chloe asked, keeping her eyes on his face.

He glanced at her, then nodded toward a park bench a few yards away, steering her toward it and then sitting down. "About a year and a half ago, we were on a mission. Barbados," he told her, glancing at her sideways. "It didn't exactly go as planned."

Chloe frowned a little at the 'year and half ago' part, that was a long time, "what went wrong?"

Victor turned on the bench so he was facing her. "Ollie was the last one in, getting out one of the hostages when a guard basically came from out of nowhere." He paused. "Turns out he had no heat signature because of some ability, so we literally didn't have any idea he was there. He pulled a gun on Oliver and pulled the trigger."

"He got shot?" Chloe asked, eyes widening a little.

"No," he said softly, looking away. "Bart did. He sped in and right in front of the bullet."

"Oh," Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "he feels guilty, then? How bad was it?"

"There was a lot of blood," Victor told her. "He was out of it for a couple days, but he healed fast. High metabolism."

She nodded a little, "what happened after?" Chloe asked quietly.

He shook his head a little. "He hasn't been on a mission with us since. Not physically anyway."

"Not at all?" She asked, surprised, "but he's been patrolling and everything, hasn't he?"

Victor glanced at her sideways. "This is the first mission he's come on since that day. No explanation or anything. He's been doing the eyes in the sky role since. But yeah, he's been patrolling. There have been a lot of articles about Green Arrow written. He just doesn't work with _us_."

Chloe sighed deeply and nodded, leaning back against the bench, "and I assume he hasn't been socializing with you guys much either?"

"First time I've seen him in weeks." He looked out over the ocean.

"I'm sorry it's gotten so bad," she said sincerely.

"It's not your fault, Chloe." Victor shook his head. "We've all been worried, but you know Ollie. Try to tell him that and he'll just pull away even more."

"I know, but I'm still sorry you guys have been dealing with it," she told him and took a deep breath, "we need some kind of plan."

He glanced at her again. "I'm down for that."

She smiled a little and nodded, "good, we'll keep in touch and get the boys in on it too, and I'm sure even Lois will help if I ask her to."

"And Dinah. Although maybe not. She's kind of disgusted with him."

Chloe frowned a little, "because he hasn't been going to missions?"

"She feels like he's abandoned us because he's scared."

She pursed her lips together, watching Vic closely, "do you agree?"

"He's scared, but it's not why Dinah assumes. He's not scared for himself."

Chloe blinked, raising her eyebrows, "she thinks he's scared for himself?" She shook her head, "Oliver would give his life for any one of you without even blinking."

"Dinah doesn't know Ollie as well as the rest of us," he said quietly. "She hasn't been around as long or as much."

"Well, if she's not willing to help, I'm sure the rest of us can manage," she told him quietly, smiling a little.

Victor nodded in agreement. "We'll figure something out."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, "I asked him to come with me, when he told me about the mission, because I've been out so long, so I think this is a good start for a plan, we can just tell him we _need_ him."

"Maybe you'll have better luck than we have." He gave her a small smile. "We can hope, right?"

"Yeah, we will give it a try," she told him quietly, "thank you for telling me, Vic."

"Anytime," he said, patting her hand gently. "What do you say we head back inside?"

Chloe nodded a little and smiled softly, "yeah, probably should let you get some rest."

"And you too. Been a long day." He rose to his feet.

"True," she told him, taking his arm once more, "but it's been a good day."


	9. Chapter 9

Chloe and Vic were making their way inside when, out of the corner of her eyes, Chloe noticed Oliver leaning against the hotel bar, by himself, having a drink. With a deep breath, she told Vic to go ahead and that she would go see if she could talk to him.

She approached the bar quietly and instead of speaking to him, she took the stool next to his and ordered a drink of her own. Oliver paused when he felt her presence. He didn't even have to look over to know it was her. "You're out late," he said softly, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"So are you," she told him, thanking the bar attender as he handed her her drink, "except I don't think whiskey will be any good on your headache."

He looked down at his glass for a moment, then glanced at her sideways. "Not on my headache, no," he agreed.

"What will it be good on?" She asked quietly, sipping on her own drink then glancing at him.

Oliver met her eyes for a moment. "My nerves," he admitted.

She held his gaze, her own eyes intense as she tried to read him, "why are you so tense, Ollie?"

He gazed at her. "It was a close call today."

"But everyone is okay, and safe now," she told him, turning her seat slightly toward him as she lowered her voice so they wouldn't be overheard.

He nodded slightly, finishing off his drink and then staring down at the bar. "I know."

She had to stop herself from asking how often he'd been drinking so heavily, it wasn't time for that, she needed him to let her in first, "why don't we go for a walk instead?"

"Aren't you tired?" His eyebrows furrowed a little at that.

"Adrenaline," she told him, sure she was pretty tired, it was probably about five in the morning in Kansas time right now, but if it helped him relax, she could go for a walk, besides she did tell Lois she'd go to the beach.

"Right." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking at the empty glass for a moment.

Chloe took a couple of long sips from her drink, finishing it then stood up, "come on."

Oliver watched her for a moment, then rose to his feet slowly, tucking his hands in his pockets and following her toward the exit.

She smiled a little as she felt him walking behind her, but remained silent until they were outside, "when are we going back?" She asked him quietly.

"To Metropolis?" he asked, glancing at her sideways as they walked. "We can be back by tomorrow."

"I think the guys missed you tonight," she told him as she slipped her shoes off and picked them up once they got to the sand.

Oliver fell silent at that, though he didn't bother taking off his own shoes, simply walked alongside her.

Chloe glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, "do you want to spend some time with them tomorrow?"

He didn't look at her this time. "As nice as that sounds, I really need to get back to Kansas," he said quietly. "Too many irons in the fire, you know?"

"Right..." she kept her eyes on him, "maybe just breakfast then?"

He exhaled slowly. "So which one of them did you talk to?"

She paused, she was going to try one more time, "all of them?"

"You know what I mean," he said quietly.

Chloe sighed softly and looked away for a second, "Vic." She told him, "I was out here with him before we went inside and I saw you at the bar."

Oliver nodded slightly, not looking at her. "Right," he murmured.

"Ollie," she said, placing a hand on his arm to stop him from walking further ahead, "look at me."

He paused in his tracks, looking down at her hand for a moment and trying to ignore the tingling sensation it produced against his arm. Swallowing hard, he looked up and met her eyes wordlessly.

She dropped her hand a second later and held his gaze, "they're worried about you, they care about you, you don't have to shut them out like this, you guys used to be like family."

Oliver looked away. "I know."

"I understand if you don't want to open up to me," she told him quietly, cocking her head as she tried to catch his eyes again, "but you need to let _someone_ take care of you, Ollie, because you are not doing okay."

His jaw tightened. "I don't need someone to take care of me, Chloe."

She sighed and shook her head, "you can't do everything you do _alone_ , Oliver. It's too much. You need to lean on someone, that's why the team works so well. You can't do this job alone and you _know_ that."

"I'm not doing this alone," he pointed out. "I'm just participating in a different manner than I used to."

"I'm not talking about how you're participating in the mission," she took a step closer, getting in his face as much as she could, "I'm talking about how you're shutting them out in every other way."

Oliver found himself staring at her, acutely aware of her close proximity. His gaze dropped involuntarily to her mouth.

Chloe stilled and she could tell she had lost his attention, or at least the kind of attention she'd been looking for, because he was still paying close attention to her, except, it was the kind of attention that suddenly made her cheeks feel hot, her heart rate go up and she felt a little dizzy, "Ollie," she tried to get him to snap out of this, but her voice came out as a straggled whisper.

"Yeah?" he murmured, shifting closer to her unconsciously.

She lifted her hands to his arms, "you need to listen to me," her words sounded distant even to herself, like they were inside this bubble and everything else around them had faded away, like she had felt when they were in his office just the previous night, except stronger.

Oliver's eyes locked on hers, his heart beating fast in his chest. "I'm listening," he said vaguely, not really sure what she was talking about, or what he'd even just said.

Chloe swallowed hard because her mouth was suddenly very dry and and lifted a hand to cup his face, the small part of her brain that was still functioning trying to get the words out, "you can't push everyone away anymore."

He leaned into her touch. "I'm not pushing you away," he murmured, sliding an arm around her waist.

Her breath caught and she felt a surge of electricity running through her body as his action caused her to move even closer, "I want you to let me help you."  
Oliver nodded wordlessly, their faces only a few inches apart.

She kept her eyes on his then leaned closer, turning her head a little and pressing her lips to his cheek. It was far from what she wanted to do, but it was as much as she would allow herself to do right now. "Chloe," he murmured, closing his eyes tightly, his stomach twisting into a knot.

"Shh," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him without pulling her head back to look at him.

Oliver tensed for a moment, an involuntary reaction to a gesture he wasn't used to. But after a few seconds, he slowly wound his other arm around her, as well, something between confusion and disappointment mixing together.

She was far from satisfied too, but she couldn't let this go any further, he was hurting and confused and she had a real shot of getting him to lean on her and she was, well, she was a mess and legally, she was still married. So she rubbed a hand over his back in an attempt to get him to relax because she knew that if she pulled back now, things could go two ways; either she would make him feel rejected and hurt his feelings and have him push her away, or things would go further than they should and eventually, she would have to push him away, which would lead to him feeling rejected anyway.

After a moment, he relaxed a little and let out a breath, closing his eyes once more. Clearly he'd misread the signs. She wasn't interested in him that way and he should've known that. She was married after all. The part of his brain still capable of thought asked if he really wanted to be the kind of guy that broke up a marriage anyway. And he didn't like the immediate response that came to mind.

Chloe sighed deeply when she felt him relaxing and began to relax too. She would never have done this to Oliver before, would never have thought of being physical to comfort him, but he had been looking so broken most of the time, she had been wanting to wrap her arms around him and comfort him for a few days now and she was glad that it seemed to be working.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly as he pulled away a moment later. "Thanks," he murmured.

She pulled away too and dropped her arms reluctantly, nodding slightly, "you don't have to thank me."

"Deal with it," he said, his voice a little gruff.

A small smile appeared on her lips and she nodded a little, looking at him for a moment then back at the hotel, "should we, hm, try to get some sleep?" Not that she thought she was going to manage to, she felt calmer, but her body was far from it.

Sleep. Right. Maybe after a cold shower, he thought, even though he nodded. "Yeah. Good idea," he said quietly, looking back at the hotel, as well.

Chloe nodded and started slowly toward the hotel, she would try for a cold shower herself, but she doubted it was going to be enough, "what time do you want to leave tomorrow?"

"Mid-afternoon work for you?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she agreed, glancing at him, "think we could have lunch with the guys before we leave?"

Oliver rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess so."

A tiny smile appeared on her lips and she nodded, "I'll text them, let them know." She told him pausing to brush the sand from her feet once they reached the sidewalk.

He reached out and settled a hand on her shoulder to help steady her, purely on instinct.

She had been balancing okay until he touched her, so she reached out and held on to his arm to steady herself, "thanks."

"Welcome," he murmured, watching her intently.

Chloe straightened herself and nodded, holding his gaze for a second before looking away, if they got into that again, they would never get out of it.

Oliver quickly let go of her, his hand falling to his side when she looked away, embarrassment burning in his chest. "See you in the morning," he said softly.

"I'll see you in the morning," she told him quietly, glancing at him again.

He nodded and headed into the hotel once more, moving toward the stairs and taking them two at a time.

She took a deep breath as she watched him go then made her way to the elevators, she had the feeling this was going to be a long process. 

* * * 

A couple days later found Clark winding his way around the bullpen of the Daily Planet, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand as he made his way toward Chloe's desk. He set it down in front of her, a small smile on his face. "Hey."

Chloe blinked and looked up from her computer, seeing the cup first then Clark, she was surprised to see the small smile on his face, she expected a lecture and judgment as he demanded to know what the hell she was thinking when she walked out on Jimmy like that, "hey," she said cautiously. 

"How's it going?" he asked, hesitantly sitting down in the chair across from her desk.

"Busy," she said neutrally, studying him carefully, half expecting him to ask her to go talk to Jimmy because although she had seen him around the bullpen, she hadn't spoken to him since their last fight, "you?"

"Busy too," he agreed with a slight nod.

"Is something going on?" Chloe asked him quietly, raising her eyebrows a little.

"I can't just bring an old friend a cup of coffee?" he asked uncertainly.

"You can," she said quietly, taking the cup and sipping on it, not nearly sweet enough, but she managed not to make a face, "but this isn't just a cup of coffee, is it, Clark?"

He sighed softly and looked down for a moment. "I'm worried about you."

She saw it coming, "why are you worried about me?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

He shifted uncomfortably and glanced up at her once more. "You know why," he said softly.

Chloe sighed deeply and rubbed her temple, "look, Clark, I appreciate your concern," even though she really didn't, "but this isn't about you, this is between him and I."

Clark paused at that, looking at her worriedly. "I know it's not about me. But if he's putting you into dangerous situations, Chloe--"

"Wait, what?" Chloe frowned, "you're not talking about Jimmy?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm talking about..." He leaned forward, dropping his voice. "Oliver."

Her jaw immediately tightened. It was one thing for him to butt in on her marriage since Jimmy was his best friend, but this was ridiculous, " _that_ " she said firmly, "is even less of your business."

"Your safety is my business," he said without hesitation, his eyes narrowing.

"When it's in your best interest it is," she said tightly, "I'm perfectly safe with the team."

Clark frowned. "It's not the rest of the team that I have problems trusting."

At that moment, Oliver was making his way across the room, reading over a paper in his hand. "Chloe, I got the article you sent me and I think it's really great. I wanna run it on--" He paused when he looked up and saw Clark sitting there.

Chloe blinked and glanced at Oliver then looked back at Clark, "like I said, this is none of your business," she told him quietly but she knew Oliver would be able to hear it too since he was so close.

He hesitated a moment, glancing at Chloe and then Clark. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's okay," she assured him as she stood up, "Clark was just leaving."

"No, I wasn't," said Clark, crossing his arms over his chest, "you have to listen to me, Chloe."

Oliver paused, looking between them once more and then letting his gaze rest on Chloe silently, raising his eyebrows.

Her jaw was tight and she glanced at Oliver then back at Clark, "what do I have to listen to, Clark? That you don't like my decisions? You haven't liked my decisions in the past three years, nothing has changed."

"Everything's changed since the day he got back in the city." Clark looked at Oliver with accusing eyes.

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "Maybe I should come back another time."

"No, Oliver, stay." Chloe told him before turning to Clark again, glad that it was later into the day and the bullpen was mostly empty already, "because, yeah, Clark, things have changed, for _me_ , and for _the better_ " she told him bluntly, not caring if he thought less of her because she thought separating from his best friend was an improvement, "and it's all thanks to him, but things for you, other than the name of your boss, remain the same, so I don't see why you'd have a problem with anything else."

"Because he brings trouble anywhere he goes, Chloe," he said harshly. "He's dangerous, and so is being around him."

Chloe actually laughed at that, but it was a hollow laugh, "you can't be serious, Clark. _He_ brings trouble anywhere he goes? What about _you_?"

Oliver glanced around, then looked back at them. "I don't think this is the best place to be having this particular discussion," he said quietly.

"You're right," Chloe said, her voice even, "it's not the best place because we don't even have to be having this conversation at _all_."

But Clark wasn't done and he was getting desperate to get Chloe to listen, "Bart almost _died_ because of him, Chloe!"

At that, Oliver blanched, and he set the file down on Chloe's desk. "We'll talk about the article later," he said, his voice clipped as he turned and headed away.

"Oliver, wait," Chloe called, her jaw tight as she started after him but paused and turned to Clark, "this is your last warning to _stay_ out of this, Clark, don't make me remind you of all the times _I_ almost died because of you, or Lois did, or when _all_ of us nearly died because one of _your_ kind tried to destroy our planet. Better yet, don't make me remind you of all the people who _did_ die because of you," she told him tightly before brushing past him and following Oliver.

He headed up the stairs to his office, but didn't bother closing the door because he knew she was following him.

Chloe actually took the stairs, something she never did, but between her short legs and her high heels, she didn't catch him until he was inside his office, she hesitated when she walked inside then turned to close the door behind her.

He let out a breath, not turning to look at her as he stared out the window overlooking the city.

She took a deep breath and watched him silently for a moment, "Ollie..." she said quietly, "you can't listen to him, you know how Clark is."

"He's right," Oliver responded, his jaw tightening.

"No, he's not. It's not your fault," she told him, "no matter how much you blame yourself, don't let him get to you."

He turned to look at her. "He's looking out for you. You should let him."

"No, I shouldn't and you know why? Because he had no interest in 'looking out for me' until now," she said tightly.

Oliver shook his head. "Because you haven't been involved in this life in a long time, Chloe." 

"Because I didn't have a way of being involved, Oliver." She told him, her voice tightening again, "does it even matter, to _any_ of you what _I_ want?"

He flinched at that. "If it didn't, I wouldn't have asked you to help out again, would I?"

She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face for a moment, he wasn't the one she wanted to yell at, "then let me help and stop caring about what Clark thinks because _he_ clearly doesn't care."

"I never said you couldn't help." His voice dropped and he sat down in his chair with a soft sigh. 

"I know you haven't," she told him, watching him, her own voice softer, "then let me do what _I_ feel is the best for me."

Oliver gazed up at her silently for a long moment. "What if it turns out you're wrong?" he whispered.

"Then it was my mistake to make," she told him, holding his gaze back, "and I've made much bigger ones before."

He shut his eyes, exhaling slowly as he sat back in his chair.

"Just... forget about Clark. He only worries about something when it's in his best interest," Chloe said quietly.

He looked up at her once more, nodding slightly as he met her eyes. "All right."

She held his gaze and nodded, "do you wanna talk about the article later?" She asked.

Oliver rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah," he murmured. "If that's all right."

"Yeah," she looked at him for a moment longer, "just don't think about him," she told him quietly before starting for the door.

"Easier said than done when part of the reason I came back here was to try and make amends," he said just as quietly.

Her chest tightened a little and she shook her head, "he pushed all of us, with the exception of Jimmy away, Ollie," she told him as she turned to face him again, "even Lois. Some people don't want to make amends."

Oliver looked down at his desk once more. "Guess you can't make someone forgive you if they're not interested."

"He has nothing you forgive you for," she told him firmly.

"No?" He glanced up at her.

"What do you think he needs to forgive you for, Oliver? For protecting him? Doing what he couldn't?" She asked, her voice firm still and tighter than before.

"No," he said softly.

She frowned at that, "then for what?"

Oliver met her eyes. "Lex."

"Oh," her stomach dropped a little and she shook her head, looking away then looking at him again, "I don't think that's possible, Ollie."

"Yeah. I know," he admitted.

Chloe paused for a moment then started toward his desk once more, "the reason why Clark and I haven't really been talking is because it was me who killed Davis."

He paused, not terribly surprised by the admission. "In self-defense," he said quietly.

"It makes no difference to him," Chloe told Oliver, "like it makes no difference to him if the world is a better place because Lex is dead."

"If only the world was really as black and white as he'd like to think." His voice was soft.

"But we both know it's not." She said, her voice also soft this time.

"You're right. We do," he agreed, meeting her eyes.

She nodded, taking a deep breath, "which is why what he thinks about this doesn't matter. There might be a lot about what he is that we will never understand, but there is a lot about us that _he_ will never understand too."

A very faint, somewhat sad smile touched his lips. "You've always been the smart one."

She smiled a little and nodded, glad that at least, she was able to get through to him, "if that will get you to listen to me, I'll agree."

He smiled a bit more. "Loud and clear."

Chloe nodded then held his gaze, smiling too "okay, as long as we're clear, I really should get back to work before my editor starts yelling at me for the story I owe him."

"If your editor yells at you for that, just tell him he's being a jerk and I'm sure he'll get the idea."

She smiled a little more at that, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good."

Chloe looked at him for a moment longer then made her way out of the door, that was some improvement.


	10. Chapter 10

Oliver stood atop a roof overlooking Metropolis. It was late, far later than he was usually out patrolling, but he was on edge. His nerves were frayed from lack of sleep, from confrontations with Clark, from glares from Jimmy, from the added stress of being editor of the Daily Planet in addition to running Queen Industries and LuthorCorp. He blew out a breath, listening to the stillness of the night, surprised by how quiet it was. A city the size of Metropolis was rarely ever this quiet. And when it was, it usually meant something bad was coming.

Chloe hadn't been bothering with using her car since she was still staying with Lois and her apartment was so close to the Planet. But nights like this, when she'd decided to stay until after two in the morning, were nights when she regretted that decision. Sure, it was cheaper and but it wasn't exactly safe. She held on tightly to her taser as she walked, it was quiet, but she knew that if someone was going to try and attack her, they would be quiet too and she refused to call Clark for any kind of help.

Movement down below caught his eye and he saw someone exiting the Daily Planet, taking quick strides down the street.

And that's when he spot a couple of guys across the street from the person, crossing the road toward her. Crap, he thought, tensing even more.

She stopped when she thought she heard something then started walking again, faster this time, her heels clicking loudly on the ground as a shiver ran down her spine.

"Hey, pretty lady. Where ya going?" one of the guys asked, smirking as they followed her.

Chloe sighed inwardly, she knew she should have taken a cab, but she started walking faster, letting the sleeve of her coat fall over her hand and cover her taser, if they got close enough, they'd have a surprise.

"Shouldn't be out walking alone this late. Don't you know? Streets aren't safe." The second guy put a hand on her shoulder.

"They aren't." Chloe said as she stilled, "for people like you," she told him as she turned around fast and pressed the taser full on on the guy's stomach.

A strangled cry escaped him as he collapsed onto the ground, convulsing from the electric charge.

Without hesitation, the other man pulled a gun, aiming it at her and sneering. "Stupid move, Bitch."

Chloe stilled, her eyes widening as she realized for the first time that there was another man there too, her jaw clenched and she stared at him, kicking herself for not paying attention to the footsteps, sounded like she _would_ have to call Clark after all.

He smirked at her. "Yeah, that's right. Drop your taser," he ordered.

She sighed and dropped it with a loud noise, "I don't have any money," she told him.

"We don't want your _money_ ," he informed her. "Get down on your knees."

Before she had a chance to respond, an arrow whistled through the air, piercing the man's hand that held the gun. It clattered loudly to the pavement, competing only with the man's pained scream.

Chloe's eyes widened as she heard something familiar but didn't place the noise until she saw the arrow in the man's hand, her breath caught and she quickly moved to grab her taser and tasered him too until he was also unconscious on the ground.

A moment later an arm slid around her waist from behind. "Cops are on the way," he told her, his voice distorted.

She held her breath and turned her head up to look at him, she could already hear the sirens, "hurry."

Giving a short nod, he pulled her closer, back against him and a second later, they were propelled into the air.

Chloe gasped and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her stomach tight as he pulled her up, she had never done this with him before, she opened her eyes when they landed on the rooftop, but didn't let go of him, her heart was beating so fast and she knew it was only partially due to the muggers and the whole being pulled up to the roof, mostly, it was because it was _him_.

When she didn't let go, he didn't either. "Are you all right?" he asked, tightening his arm around her involuntarily, his eyes dark behind his glasses.

"Yeah," she breathed, finally pulling back enough to look at him, "thank you," she told him in a whisper.

He reached up and pushed the hood off his head, and pulled the night vision glasses off, gazing at her intently. "No problem," he murmured, locking eyes with her.

Chloe's hand went up to brush his hair back instantly once he pulled his hood off and she took a deep breath, holding his gaze her heart felt like it was going to explode.

Oliver's eyes darkened even more, narrowing a little as he inhaled sharply. "Chloe." There was a hint of warning in his voice, but he couldn't look away from her.

She heard the warning, but she didn't care. She had been thinking about kissing him since that day in his office and then, after that night at the beach, she couldn't take her mind off of him, so without wasting another second, she pressed her lips to his as she cupped the back of his head.

He kissed her back without hesitation, one of his hands threading through her hair and tugging her closer, his mouth urgent against hers as a flash of heat ignited between them.

That bubble that she always felt around them when they were close was even stronger now, she couldn't hear any of the sounds from the city below or anything else, she couldn't feel the wind, it was just them, and it was almost overwhelming, but she felt like her entire body was alive as the kiss deepened and she kissed him with just as much urgency.

Without thinking about it, his arm tightened around her and he hauled her up against him, nearly pulling her off her feet as he deepened the kiss, his tongue seeking hers.

Chloe made a tiny noise in the back of her throat as their tongues met, she dropped her taser and purse to the ground so she could wrap her other arm around his neck, her tiptoes barely touching the floor anymore as he pulled her against him.

Oliver shifted, sliding an arm beneath her knee and hooking it around his waist to pull her even closer, his other hand pressed firmly to the small of her back as their tongues danced together, making him shudder involuntarily.

She moaned quietly when she felt him shudder and wrapped both her legs around him, kissing him hungrily for a moment then finally breaking the kiss for air. 

His breathing was ragged and heavy, his eyes dark and intense as he pulled away enough to look at her.

Chloe took a deep breath as she opened her eyes slowly, her heart beating fast as she met his gaze, her eyes as intense as his own.

His arms were still wrapped around her tightly--no, _possessively_ and he held her gaze. "Chloe?" His voice was deeper than usual.

"Yeah?" She said breathlessly, arms and legs still around him and she had no intention of letting go.

Oliver was unable to resist the urge to lean in and kiss her jaw, his lips brushing lightly over her skin, teasing. "What do you want?" he whispered, his own jaw tightening.

She shivered, closing her eyes and leaning into his lips, she couldn't really make sense of his words for a long moment and when she did, she could only think of one answer, "more."

Maybe it made him a terrible person. A weak man. But he couldn't resist--not her, and definitely not right then. He moved a few feet, pressing her back against the brick wall that led to the stairwell of the apartment building they were on top of. He trailed his lips down the slender column of her neck, his tongue darting out to taste her skin.

Chloe moaned, closing her eyes as she slid her fingers through his hair before holding on to it, her mind completely blank, thinking was the last thing she wanted to do right at that moment. She hadn't felt this desirable in as long as she could remember.

The sound of her moan made him close his eyes momentarily in order to maintain control. It had been a long time since he'd been with anyone, and the desire he felt for her at the moment was nearly overwhelming. He kept one arm beneath her, holding her steady, lifting his other hand to undo the buttons on her coat.

She reached down and helped him undo her coat as she turned her head and placed her lips to his jaw, kissing it before nibbling on it, this was far from enough.

Oliver swallowed hard, setting her down just long enough to rid her of her coat. In the back of his mind, he knew they were crossing a line. A big one. One that could never been uncrossed. And he couldn't bring himself to care right then. She obviously wanted him as much as he wanted her. He tugged the blouse off over her head and then lifted her up once more.

Chloe stared up at him, her eyes wide and dark as she held his gaze, shivering because of the wind but not hesitating before reaching for the zipper of his vest and pulling it down.

Sliding his thigh between her legs to support her, he shrugged the vest off, keeping his gaze on hers. 

She gasped as she pressed against his leg, her eyes widening as she ran her hands over his bare chest, her brain not completely aware of what was happening but her body was screaming for it.

He shuddered at the feel of her hands on his skin, his sense of urgency growing as he hoisted her up further, sliding one hand into her slacks and cupping her through her underpants. He pressed a kiss to the valley between her breasts, then another, turning his head and rubbing his cheek along her skin.

Chloe moaned at the feel of his lips against her skin combined with his touch, she shuddered hard at the simple touch and slid her hands over his waist, feeling her way around his pants as she tried to find the zipper.

Oliver pressed a kiss to her collarbone as he dipped two fingers inside her, groaning softly. He pulled his head back to look at her, his eyes still intense, but this time more focused as he gazed at her.

"Oh," Chloe moaned louder this time, closing her eyes as her head fell back against the wall, if she couldn't think before, she was surprised she was remembering to breathe now, her hips buckling up against his touch instantly as she wrapped her legs tighter around him.

He smiled involuntarily at how responsive she was, considering they'd barely done anything yet. He watched her, his breathing ragged as he stroked her slowly, his thumb grazing her clit as he eased a third finger inside her, preparing her for what was to come.

Her back arched and her nails dug on his back, she was already so close. Jimmy didn't touch her, not like this, he'd tried to in the past, but she'd gotten tired of his fumbling and eventually just told him she wasn't into it, but Oliver knew what he was doing, knew exactly how and where to touch her and with his hand alone he was making her feel better than Jimmy ever had.

The way her nails dug into his skin told him she was more than enjoying his actions and he kissed her once more, sliding his fingers in and out of her at the same time. He gently sucked her bottom lip between his, his tongue dancing lightly across it, teasing. She was so tense in his arms, her body pulled tight like the string on his bow. He brushed his thumb over her clit again, rubbing it in small, gentle circles, determined to get her to let go.

That was all it took and her back arched even more, her muscles contracting hard around his fingers as she half moaned half screamed, her eyes shut tightly as her heels dug against his lower back once her orgasm hit her full force.

Oliver felt her tense in his arms and a moment later relax, slumping back against the wall behind her. Her skin was flushed with heat, her inner muscles fluttering around his fingers still as he helped her ride out her climax. "Beautiful," he murmured against her ear. She shuddered hard once more as she tried to catch her breath, her legs finally loosening around him and one of them slid down to the ground, but she didn't bother trying to stand on it because she knew she wouldn't be able to.

His eyes were still dark as he pulled back to look at her, one hand steadied on her hip.

"God, Ollie," she whispered breathlessly as she finally opened her eyes to look up at him, her entire body felt like it was made of jell-o.

A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Yeah," he agreed softly.

Chloe lifted a hand to cup his cheek then leaned in, pressing her lips to his as well as she could.

Oliver kissed her back without hesitation, shifting closer to her once more and nuzzling her nose with his own. "You're gonna freeze," he whispered.

She chuckled softly, looking up at him, "I'm anything _but_ cold," she told him, her hands going to his pants again as she dropped her second leg to the ground too.

"Wait," he said softly, stilling her hand. "I don't have protection with me."

"I do," she told him in a whisper, looking around the roof for her purse, she and Jimmy always used it since she didn't want to risk a pregnancy and she was on the pill, also. She just hoped it wasn't expired since it had been a while since she'd needed one.

Oliver let go of her hand, nodding a little and watching her intently.

She took a deep breath as the walked over to her purse, her hands shaking a little as she went through it, trying to find the condom as quickly as possible. She didn't want to give herself time to think about this, time to run from him because she didn't really want to, if he could make her feel like _that_ just by touching her, she wanted to see what else he could do.

With a relieved sigh, she pulled the condom from her purse and dropped the bag back on the floor before walking back to him, grinning shyly.

He couldn't help but smile softly at her sudden shyness. He lifted a hand to her cheek, dipping his head and kissing her, softly this time.

Chloe returned the kiss, relieved that he was kissing her and relaxing a little as he did, his mouth felt amazing on her, but it also felt... natural, familiar and it had no reason to because she had never seen Oliver _that_ way until that day in his office.

After a moment, he pulled away to catch his breath, resting his forehead against hers even as he carefully tucked his hands into the waistband of her slacks, tugging them down.

She took a deep breath and let them fall to the floor before going back to his pants and sighing a little, "Ollie?"

Oliver paused, looking up at her with uncertainty. "Yeah?"

Pursing her lips together, she looked up at him a little embarrassed, a little frustrated, "how do I open this thing?" She asked, tugging on the pants of his uniform.

An amused smile tugged at his lips and he carefully directed her hand to the hidden zipper on his codpiece.

"Oh," she blushed hotly and grinned, biting down on her bottom lip as she pulled the zipper down finally, looking down at her hand for a second then looking back up at him.

He met her eyes and smiled, nodding a little as he shifted slightly to remove his utility belt.

She smiled back and looked down once more, pushing his leather pants, along with his boxers out of the way enough so they could get back to more interesting things.

Oliver dipped his head to kiss her once more, one hand tangling in her hair even as the other slid around her waist, tugging her closer to him. He slowly knelt down on the roof, laying his clothes out and then urging her down to the ground with him.

Chloe didn't even pause before joining him, she sat down over his pants and took a deep breath, the condom still in her hand and she reached to open the package, holding his gaze.

He reached out, tucking some hair behind her ear as he watched her intently. "Are you going to regret this in the morning?" His voice was quiet.

"No," she told him firmly, pausing as she studied him closely, "are you?"

"No," he said just as firmly.

She took a deep breath and pressed her lips to his for a quick moment before pulling back and looking down so she could roll the condom over him.

Oliver inhaled sharply as she touched him, gritting his teeth to keep his body in check. Then he tucked an arm behind her, propelling her backwards and onto his leathers, his face only inches from hers.

Chloe bent her knees up on either side of him her heels firmly on the ground. Taking a deep breath, she reached for him once more and guided him to her entrance as she kept her eyes on his. Holding her gaze, he pressed into her slowly, sliding his arms under her shoulders and cradling her head in his hands.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly, her back arching a little as she held her breath, he was much bigger than she was used to so she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing her body to relax. He held his body still, watching her intently for a moment and then kissing the corner of her mouth, soft and tender. "Relax," he murmured.

Chloe's chest tightened at his tenderness, that was the last thing she expected Oliver to be, but he'd been surprising her over and over again since they'd met, so she really should have expected the unexpected with him. She returned the kiss just as tenderly and a moment later, she started to move her hips slowly, a moan escaping her lips as she did.

Oliver groaned softly at her movement, pulling back a little, as well and then thrusting into her slowly, dropping a kiss to her collarbone.

She turned her head and pressed her lips to his temple, closing her eyes as he moved within her, she lifted her hand to cup his cheek and moved her other hand to his back, holding him close as they moved together.

He leaned into her touch, their movements slow but steady. He kissed her cheek softly, then the corner of her mouth, his hips rocking against hers. He slid a hand down her body, his touch light and sensual, caressing.

Turning her head a little, she pressed her lips to his once more, kissing him as slowly and intimately as the movements of their bodies, her heart beating so fast, her chest tight at how everything felt, like this was more than just two friends fucking on a rooftop, but she wasn't allowing herself to think, she had no reason to when he was making her feel so incredible. "You feel amazing," she whispered against his lips a moment later.

Oliver kissed her back softly, brushing his nose against hers. "You _are_ amazing," he murmured. He didn't want to think, either. Not about what consequences this would undoubtedly have for both of them, not about what they would do tomorrow when they saw each other at the Planet, not about anything. He just wanted her, and he wanted her to enjoy the moment as much as he was. He slipped his hand between her thighs, stroking her slowly, in time with his thrusts.

Chloe moaned and shuddered the second he touched her, she had no idea how he knew exactly where to touch her, but apparently, he knew exactly what made it work for her.

He smiled a little at her reaction to his touch, dipping his head and kissing her shoulder softly, even as he slid his thumb over her a little faster, struggling to keep things slow despite his body's desire to do the opposite.

"Ollie," she moaned, speeding up her hips a little because with his touch, she was getting so close, "faster," she begged breathlessly.

He groaned softly at the request, burying his face against her neck before thrusting into her faster, tilting her hips up a little more and pressing into her farther. He could tell by her reactions that she was close and he pressed the pad of his thumb down against her clit with a little more pressure.

Chloe moaned loudly as all his actions caused her to shudder hard, her hips slamming against his, meeting him thrust by thrust, "Ollie," she moaned again as the tension built even higher in every inch of her body, her fingers wrapped around his hair tightly and her nails dug against the skin of his back once more.

He uttered her name, thrusting into her harder, the sound of his name on her lips and her fingernails biting into his skin urging him faster. He captured her lips with his, kissing her hungrily, his heart hammering against his chest.

She kissed him hungrily as well as she could but then she stilled when the tension was broken and she moaned loudly into his mouth, her entire body shaking as what she would later refer to as the best orgasm of her life, she was sure, finally broke through her. She clung to him as hard as she could, her heels digging against the back of his bare thighs this time as she closed her eyes tightly.

Oliver watched as she came undone in his arms, shuddering violently. The breath caught in his throat at the sight. He thrust into her once more before he reached his own climax, dropping his face against her neck and shuddering, as well. "God," he whispered, shutting his eyes.

Chloe loosened her grip on him after a long moment, taking a few deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down, but keeping her eyes closed as her body relaxed under his. He exhaled slowly, his own body relaxing. He shifted onto the ground beside her so he didn't crush her, but he slid his arm around her waist, tugging her close to him as he shut his eyes, laying his head down.

She shuddered a little as they moved and he slid from inside of her she reached down and carefully removed the condom before throwing it somewhere on the roof, she couldn't really be bothered by caring where at that moment, she just wanted both of them to be comfortable because she couldn't even begin to think about moving. He shuddered, too, but pulled her closer, til her head was resting against his chest. "You okay?" he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her hair.

"Yeah," she whispered wrapping her arm around him as she shifted even closer, "you?"

"I'm good," he whispered, trailing his fingers lightly up and down her spine.

She shivered lightly and smiled a little, closing her eyes, "for the record," she said quietly, smirking softly, "if I don't show up to work tomorrow, I'm not avoiding you, I just can't walk."

A soft chuckle escaped him. "Yeah, well. Ditto."

Chloe grinned and pulled her head back enough to look at him, opening her eyes and raising her eyebrows, "good to know."

Oliver grinned back at her involuntarily. "Plus you know, exhaustion," he teased.

"Mhmm," she agreed, "if we weren't on some random rooftop in the heart of Metropolis where we can possibly get arrested for and expose your secret identity all at the same time, I would definitely suggest not moving."

He nodded slightly, watching her intently. "The clock tower's not far," he told her, reaching out and trailing his fingers lightly down her arm.

"I know," she said quietly, holding his gaze and lifting a hand to touch his jaw gently, "but I'm not sure how I would explain that to Lois."

"Right," he murmured, nodding again.

She brushed her thumb against his bottom lip and watched him closely, a lump suddenly appearing in her throat, "we can't-- we can't let anyone know."

Oliver held his breath, watching her, as well. "Because of Jimmy," he said softly, nodding.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, looking down then back at him, "you probably already figured this out on your own but, I moved out." She said quietly, "most of my things are at Lois' and have been since before we went to Vancouver," she admitted quietly, "I haven't spoken to him since but I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to think it was your fault." 

He searched her eyes for a moment. "He doesn't deserve you," Oliver said softly. "For the record."

Her chest tightened for a second then she relaxed, smiling softly at him, "thank you."

Nodding a little, he reluctantly sat up, picking up her shirt. "We should get you back before Lois starts to suspect something's wrong."

She smiled a little and nodded, taking her shirt from him and sliding it back on, "hopefully she'll be in bed and won't even notice me coming in." She told him quietly.

"You realize I'm escorting you there, right?" He smiled a bit, reaching out and locating his boxers and sliding them on.

"I would never expect you to let me walk back on my own with those crazy muggers out there," she paused as she walked over to her pants and slid them on, "also, remind me to send those two a thank you card."

He blinked, raising his eyebrows at her. "For pulling a gun on you?" His voice was dubious.

"For getting you to come rescue me." She told him.

Oliver paused at that, gazing at her. "I'm just glad you're all right." he pulled his pants on.

Chloe slid her coat back on and smiled at him, "thanks to you, I feel pretty amazing right now."

He couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, well. Works both ways," he told her.

She closed her coat up then picked up her taser and tossed it inside her purse before sliding her purse over her shoulder, "good to know."

He finished dressing as well, sliding the glasses back on, but still gazing at her. "Let's get you home." 

Chloe nodded a little and stepped closer, "by the way, your choice of transportation is pretty... breathtaking." 

"Think you'd want to travel that way again?" he asked, well aware of the double meaning in his words.

She held his gaze, understanding exactly what he meant, "absolutely."


	11. Chapter 11

After Ollie dropped her off on the roof of Lois' building, she made her way in through the stairs and then the elevator, taking her shoes off once she reached Lois' floor and unlocking the door as quietly as possible. The apartment seemed silent, so hopefully Lois was already in bed and asleep. Chloe planned on taking a quick shower and passing out since it was nearly four thirty in the morning already.

Holding her breath, she pushed the door open and stepped inside silently.

"Well, finally. Geez, Miss Workaholic." Lois looked up at her from where she sat on the sofa.

Chloe stilled completely and her eyes widened, sure, the lights had been on, but Lois wasn't the best at turning them off when she went to bed, besides, Chloe had been really hoping her cousin had just left them on for her, "Lo, what are you doing up?"

"Waiting for you." She arched an eyebrow. "Plus I had too much coffee today."

"You really shouldn't have waited," she told her quietly, placing her purse over the dining room table and sliding her coat off, wondering how quickly she could make her way into the bathroom before her cousin started to ask questions.

Lois watched her intently, her eyebrows furrowing a little. Wordlessly she rose to her feet and moved over to her cousin's side, studying her.

Chloe stilled once more and raised her eyebrows slowly, cocking her head a little as she looked back at Lois, "I'm... gonna go take a quick shower, I'm exhausted." She tried, but if the look on her cousin's face was anything to go by, it was too late.

"You had sex!" she blurted out, her eyes wide.

Her eyes widened at the sudden accusation and Chloe stared up at Lois, there was no way... " _what_?"

"You're _glowing_ ," Lois informed her, a smirk forming on her face. "At four thirty in the morning."

Chloe pursed her lips together as she stared at her cousin, she never could lie to her anyway, "how the _hell_ do you do that?"

She grinned, a knowing look on her face. "Trade secret," she informed her, arching an eyebrow. She studied her a moment longer. "Must have been really _good_ sex." She paused. "So that definitely leaves out Jimmy."

Cringing a little, Chloe took a deep breath and finished taking off her coat, taking the opportunity to turn her back to her cousin as she placed it over the back of one of the chairs.

"Spill already!" Lois said impatiently, watching her with raised eyebrows.

Chloe sighed deeply and took a moment before turning around again, "I was walking home from the Planet and these two muggers," muggers was what she was sticking with anyway, "stopped me and I managed to take one of them down but the second one was coming closer and then..." she paused, "Green Arrow showed up." Her voice was so quiet in the last sentence she really had been hoping Lois wouldn't understand her words.

Her eyebrows shot up. " _What_?!"

She cringed and pursed her lips together, "I wasn't exactly planning on it! I mean, yeah we almost kissed a couple of times, but legally, I _am_ still married and I know I should solve things with Jimmy before anything else and I'm already planning on finding a divorce lawyer first thing in the morning but I can't exactly go back on what happened tonight." Chloe told Lois quickly.

Lois shook her head, waving a hand dismissively. "Oh, stop. I knew the minute I realized you had sex it was with Oliver. I'm talking about the muggers. Chloe, what the hell were you thinking? What if Oliver hadn't shown up when he had?"

"Oh," Chloe paused for a moment, "yeah, I should have just taken a cab." She agreed quietly.

"Or called me," she added, looking worried. She was quiet for a moment, then a smirk tugged at her mouth once more. "At least it had a happy ending. Excuse the pun."

She raised her eyebrows and groaned, shaking her head and smiling a little, "yeah, yeah." Not like she really could argue with said pun.

Her smirk brightened. "So Green Arrow rescued you and the two of you...what? Had a little rooftop fun?"

With a deep breath, Chloe just stared at her cousin for a long moment, "seriously, how do you know these things?" She asked sincerely.

Lois fell silent for a moment and then she diverted her gaze. "Remember those months I was gone?"

Chloe frowned at the sudden change in her cousin's attitude, but she nodded slowly, "of course."

"I've been dreaming about my time...away." She looked back at Chloe once more.

"You remember where you were?" Chloe asked, her eyes widening a little, completely forgetting about the previous subject they'd been on for the time being, "what are you dreaming about?"

Lois paused. "The future," she admitted with a slight, nonchalant shrug.

"What? What do you mean the future? What _exactly_ have you seen?" She asked, this time, she was the one studying Lois closely.

"Not a lot," she informed her. "Just enough to be...interesting." A smirk formed on her lips once more.

"You're seriously going to have to be a lot more clear than that, Lois," Chloe told her, a concerned look on her face.

"Just...the things that I've been dreaming about have been kinda...well, happening."

She paused at that, premonitions were never a good sign, "what kind of things?"

Lois hesitated a moment. "Let's just say there's a reason I wasn't surprised about your rendezvous with Ollie." 

Her mouth dropped open, eyes widening, "you _dreamed_ about me and Oliver?" That was not only shocking but it was embarrassing, not to mention, highly disturbing.

She made a face. "Not in any kind of detail. God."

"Oh, good," Chloe said, making a face too then shaking her head, "what else do you know, Lo?"

"Most of it's just fuzzy," she admitted with a shrug. "But I definitely remember you and Oliver had something going on."

Chloe considered Lois' words for a moment then nodded a little, "maybe it's just in your head because you noticed something was going on, I mean, I didn't plan on it, but it kinda felt like it was a possibility and maybe that's why your dreamed about it."

"Maybe." There was doubt in her voice.

She took a deep breath and nodded again, "I should go shower," she said quietly, "I want to make sure I wake up at a decent time tomorrow and try to... figure things out with Jimmy."

Lois paused. "By figuring things out you do mean you're still planning to find a lawyer, right?"

Chloe raised her eyebrows and nodded, "yeah, of course." She frowned a little, "even though I don't exactly feel guilty, it's not right."

"And I don't want to see you continuing to be miserable," she told her. "So. Go. Shower. I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled a little at Lois and nodded, "go get some sleep Lo."

"You, too." She smirked. "I'm sure you're plenty...relaxed already." Winking, she headed down the hallway and out of sight.

Chloe took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face, shaking her head but unable to stop herself from smiling because Lois was far from wrong this time too.

* * *

Oliver just barely caught the elevator on time the next afternoon, sliding his hand between the doors to stop them from closing and pausing when he met Chloe's eyes. He held his breath and stepped onto the elevator, letting the doors slide shut behind him.

Chloe looked up from her phone when she heard someone stopping the elevator and raised her eyebrows when she realized it was him. She smiled slightly, "just making it to the office?"

He nodded a little. "How long have you been here?" he asked softly.

"I'm just getting in too," she admitted quietly, tensing a little as she tried to read him.

Oliver smiled faintly, nodding again. "Feeling all right?"

She took a deep breath and relaxed a little, nodding, "yeah, you?"

"I feel...good," he said quietly, watching her intently. "Better."

Chloe brightened at that and nodded, turning her head to look at him, "yeah, I do too."

He relaxed, smiling. "Good."

She took a sip of her coffee, unable to stop herself from grinning a little as she looked ahead once more, "I'll just drop my stuff and come by so we can talk about that article you mentioned yesterday."

He looked ahead too, settling himself right beside her and grinning. "Great."

Chloe laughed a little and shook her head, glancing at him, "we'll probably have to do a lot better than this around people."

Oliver glanced at her sideways, chuckling. "Yeah. I know." He reached out, his fingers dancing over hers lightly.

She grinned softly and linked her pinky finger with his, raising her eyebrows, "Lois knows, of course."

He met her eyes. "Somehow I'm not surprised." 

"Yeah," she shrugged a little, "all she had to do was take one look at me when I got back."

A small smirk tugged at his lips. "Oh."

"Something about glowing, I don't know..." she teased, smirking.

"Well. You were pretty radiant," he teased back.

Chloe grinned, squeezing his finger with hers, "thank you?"

He grinned back at her, nodding a little and rubbing his thumb lightly over the back of her hand. He sighed softly when the elevator pulled to a stop. "See you soon?" 

"Yeah, I'll be right up," she promised, letting go of his hand even though she didn't want to and holding on to her coffee with both hands, flashing him a smile, she stepped out of the elevator, trying her best to look normal rather than 'radiant'.

He bit his lip, still grinning as he watched her go, then leaned back against the elevator, waiting for the floor to his office.

* * *

Once Chloe dropped her purse and coat over her chair she picked up the folder Ollie had left for her the previous night and was about to walk back to the elevator when she noticed Jimmy making his way over to Clark's desk, which was empty, apparently to drop some prints since he was looking at them and not where he was going.

She took a deep breath and walked over quickly, she had already spoken with the lawyer that morning, before she came into work and she should already have some of the information the woman promised her on her email, which would hopefully help her prepare for the conversation with Jimmy. But first, she had to let him know she was planning said conversation.

"Jimmy?" She called once she was close enough.

He turned at the sound of his name being called and paused for a moment when he saw who it was. Then he headed over to her. "Hey."

"Hey," she said quietly, expecting a wave of guilt to hit her, but it didn't happen. She was nervous, but she definitely didn't feel guilty, "I was wondering if you were planning on being home tonight."

"I generally am," he told her, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay," she nodded a little, watching him for a moment, "do you mind if I come by?"

"It's your home, too, Chloe. You don't have to ask permission," he said with a slight frown.

She stilled a little at that and raised an eyebrow, "I haven't been living there for over a week, Jimmy."

Jimmy shrugged. "That was your choice. It's still your home."

Chloe took a deep breath and held herself back from saying anything else, "I'll talk to you tonight."

He nodded. "See you then," he answered, heading away once more.

She watched him go, she had the feeling he had no idea what that conversation was going to be about.

* * *

Oliver was sitting at his desk, reading the multiple emails from various Daily Planet staff that had been sent to him over the last several hours. He yawned involuntarily, picking up his coffee and glancing up when a knock sounded on his door. "Come in."

Chloe stepped inside a second later and smiled a little at him before closing the door behind her, folder in hand, "you look exhausted," she told him quietly.

"I'm a little tired," he admitted, watching her intently.

"I couldn't imagine why," she said as she approached the desk, holding his gaze.

A smile tugged at his lips. "Then apparently I need to work on brushing up on certain skills."

Chloe grinned shyly, glancing down as she took the chair across from his, "I can't imagine someone surviving you if you develop your skills even further."

Oliver couldn't help but grin at that. "I was a little worried," he admitted.

"You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Ollie." She told him quietly.

He met her gaze. "It had been a long time."

Chloe held his gaze and nodded a little, "for me too."

He nodded, as well. "You have nothing to worry about either. For the record." 

She grinned softly at that and held his gaze, "thank you."

He grinned back at her. "Welcome."

She looked at him for a moment then took a deep breath, "I, hm, I called a lawyer this morning and I'm going over to straighten things out with Jimmy tonight." She told him, she wasn't sure why, but she felt like he should know.

Oliver was quiet for a moment, studying her. "That's good," he said softly. 

"It's not--" she paused, "I don't expect anything from you or anything, I just thought you should know where Jimmy and I stand, or where I stand with him anyway."

His chest tightened a little. "No, I'm glad to know. It's--I don't want you to be unhappy, Chloe."

She took a deep breath and smiled a little, nodding and sitting up straight, "I know and I should have done this a long time ago, I guess I just didn't feel... motivated enough to do it."

Oliver held her gaze. "Do you think he'll fight it?" 

Chloe grew serious at that and pursed her lips together, "I don't know," she admitted, "I don't think he's expecting it, which makes no sense to me since we haven't spoken in over a week and we haven't even been sleeping on the same bed for the last six months or so."

"Yeah, well, it's become glaringly obvious that Jimmy Olsen isn't exactly the smartest guy on the planet." 

She raised an eyebrow and nodded a little, "if it's not what he wants to see, he won't see it."

"Even if it's right in front of him, he doesn't see it," he told her.

"No, apparently he doesn't, something else he and Clark have in common." She said quietly.

"Not everyone is as blind as they are, Chloe," he said just as softly.

She took a deep breath and held his gaze, nodding a little and smiling slightly, "so I'm learning."

He smiled back at her for a moment, then drew in a breath as well. "Your article was great."

"Oh," she smiled softly and sat up, "thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Is that everything you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked, curiously.

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "We should talk soon. But here's probably not the best place."

Pursing her lips, Chloe nodded slowly, "I can stop by tonight if you want me to, after I talk to Jimmy." She suggested quietly.

"Yeah, that'd be great," he said, nodding without hesitation.

Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled a little, already anxious, "okay, I can give you a call when I'm done to make sure you're already there."

He paused. "Do me a favor?"

"Yeah?" She asked, raising her eyebrows a little.

Oliver leaned forward a little, toward her. "Drive over," he said with a small smile.

Chloe grinned a little and nodded, "I can do that," she paused, a smirk appearing on her lips, "as long as you can think of another way for me to run into Green Arrow again in the future."

He grinned involuntarily at that. "I'm sure we can come up with something." His eyes twinkled mischievously.

She smirked and stood up slowly, holding his gaze, "I'll see you tonight then," she said quietly.

"See you then," he agreed, nodding.

Ignoring the urge she suddenly felt to lean over his desk and press her lips to his, Chloe stood up straight and started to the door, smiling softly before turning her back to him.


	12. Chapter 12

Jimmy was already at Watchtower when Chloe arrived that evening. He was sitting on the sofa, eating leftover Chinese takeout, his eyes on the TV screen. He didn’t look up when she came in. Chloe kept her eyes on him for a long moment, as he continued not to acknowledge her, she shook her head a little and took a deep breath, “Jimmy?” She called, doing her best to remind herself that this was the last she had to deal with him, hopefully, for a while.

He looked up at her, smiling a bit and finishing his bite of food before setting the container down on the coffee table. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she told him, but she didn’t smile, she kept her expression serious and nodded toward the TV, “would you mind?”

Jimmy shrugged a little and picked up the remote, shutting off the TV. “All right.”

She took a deep breath and stepped closer to him, trying to think of the best way to word it and the fact that he seemed so relaxed and calm was only making her even more nervous, “Jimmy, I spoke with a lawyer this morning.”

"A lawyer," he echoed, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared at her. "For what?"

She took a deep breath and sighed a little, "what do you think, Jimmy?" She asked quietly, taking another step closer. "You and I both know that this has been over for a long time, it's time we make it official."

He narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm filling for divorce." She told him finally, her expression neutral.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that?" Chloe echoed, raising her eyebrows, "Jimmy we have been sleeping in separate rooms for over six months, we just went a week without speaking and you barely seemed to notice and when we have spoken lately, we were yelling at each other!"

"And whose fault is that?" he demanded, shaking his head and moving closer to her.

"Both," she said firmly, "I'm not blaming you entirely for what has been happening but I refuse to take all of the blame."

He sneered at her. "Shocking. You never take the blame for anything. Saint Chloe the martyr."

Her jaw tightened at that, "you're not mature enough to see your own faults, you've never been and I never should have expected you to grow up, but I didn't come here to have yet another pointless argument with you, I came here to let you know what _my_ decision is."

"My faults? Our entire relationship has always been based on you, what you want and _your_ decisions," Jimmy spat, glaring. "I should never have married you in the first place."

"And for the first time in a very long time, we finally agree on something," she said tightly, "which is why it's better for _both_ of us if we just end this miserable version of a marriage right now."

"Get out," Jimmy ordered, pointing to the door.

She raised her eyebrows and stared at him, an unimpressed expression on her face, "not until I have grabbed some more or my things, I will come back here on Saturday to pick up whatever is left."

"No. Get out. Now," he said, stepping closer to her.

Her jaw tightened, "No." She told him firmly, "not until I get what I need."

"You're not welcome here anymore." Jimmy glared at her.

"I have _no_ desire to be here," she told him firmly, her voice lower than before as her eyes narrowed, "I have no desire to be anywhere around _you_ , but I'm _not_ leaving without my things." Her jaw was so tight, and even as she stared at Jimmy, she couldn't think of a single reason why she should rethink her decision. There was not an ounce of love, respect or admiration for him left in her.

Without a response, he grabbed hold of her arm, shoving her backwards toward the door.

Chloe's eyes widened as her grabbed her arm and without a second's hesitation she lifted her hand and slapped him across the face as hard as she could, her hand burning instantly after the impact, "get your hands off of me!"

He stared at her for a moment, then yanked the door open, shoving her toward it. "Get out," he growled.

Her jaw clenched even tighter as she tried to free her arm from his grasp, "you don't get to do this to me and get away with it, Jimmy," she told him tightly but she wouldn't lower herself to a physical fight, "I'll be coming back here and I will get everything I _own_ and _you_ will get what you deserve." She said dangerously.

"Whatever. Good luck finding someone interested in _you_." His grip tightened on her arm just a little and he propelled her backwards once more, then let her go, slamming the door in her face.

She straightened up and ran her fingers through her hair then adjusted her purse over her shoulder, staring at the door and smirking a little, "I already have," she murmured.

* * *

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly, looking around the penthouse before stirring the spaghetti once more and smiling a little when the buzzer from downstairs sounded. He moved over to the intercom. "Come on up," he said, no doubt in his mind it was Chloe. She'd called him just a few minutes before to let him know she was on her way.

Chloe took a deep breath and adjusted her coat as she waited for the elevator to make its way to the top, her heart was still racing from her fight with Jimmy and although she was glad it was clear that they were done, she knew this was far from over. She leaned back against the elevator and watched the numbers for a moment then looked down at her hands to make sure she wasn't shaking with anger anymore and as she did, her eyes fell on her rings, both the engagement one and the wedding one, which she still had on.

Without hesitating, she reached for them and pulled them off with some difficulty, then dropped them inside the zipper compartment of her purse and zipped it closed. She'd decided what to do with that later, for now, she just hoped Oliver had alcohol.

Oliver could tell by the expression on her face that things with Jimmy hadn't gone well. Her face was paler than usual and he drew in a breath, letting it out slowly. "Hey," he said softly as she stepped off the elevator.

"Hey," she said quietly, smiling a little as she walked inside the clock tower, taking a quick look around, it didn't seem to have changed at all since the last time she was there.

He smiled back, worry in his eyes. "How'd it go?"

"Let's see, how much alcohol can we consume as I tell you this story?" She asked, raising her eyebrows a little as she shrugged her coat off.

"That bad, huh?" He drew in a breath and moved forward, taking her coat and hanging it up.

"Thanks," she told him quietly, following him and hanging her purse on top of her coat, "I didn't really expect it to go well."

"What'd he say?" He turned to look at her once more.

She sighed a little and rubbed a hand over her face, "well, he started by acting like he was shocked that I wanted a divorce," she told him quietly, tiredly, "then went on with blaming me for everything that has gone wrong and telling me I don't take responsibility for anything that is actually my fault, then he yelled at me to get out."

Oliver winced a little at that. "I'm sorry, Chloe," he said sincerely, his voice soft. "You know that's not true, right?"

Chloe's expression softened at that and she nodded, "I know, he also said something like 'good luck to find someone who'd be interested in you', before he slammed the door in my face," she smirked slightly, "that actually made me feel better."

He reached up, tucking some hair behind her ear and letting his thumb brush lightly against her cheek. "Good."

She held her breath a little and leaned into his touch, smiling softly as she held his gaze, "thank you for letting me come over," she told him quietly.

"You don't need to thank me, Chloe. You're always welcome here, even if I'm not around," he murmured, shifting closer to her.

Chloe kept her eyes on him, lifting a hand to his side as he stepped closer, her heart already beating faster, her knees already getting weaker, "what did you want to talk to me about?" She asked in a whisper.

Oliver drew in a breath, then brushed his nose lightly over hers before kissing her mouth. She returned the kiss instantly, keeping it soft as her eyes fell closed and she took a step closer. After a moment, he leaned his forehead against hers. "I uh--I made dinner," he admitted.

Blinking her eyes open, she raised her eyebrows but didn't pull away, "you did?" She said quietly.

"Yeah, it's not much but...spaghetti and meatballs." A small, uncertain smile touched his lips.

Her chest tightened as she searched his eyes, "Ollie, you didn't have to."

"I know. I just..." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I actually kinda like to cook, I just don't usually cook for myself. I mean, why bother when it's just me, right?"

Nodding slightly, she lifted a hand to cup his cheek and kissed him slowly, but deeper this time. She wanted to comfort him and thank him at the same time and she knew he would only accept her thank you in the form of words, so she decided to act on it instead.

Oliver relaxed a little, returning the kiss without hesitation. "Are you hungry?" he asked a moment later.

"I could eat," she whispered to him, smiling as she bit down on her bottom lip, "I honestly can't remember the last time I had a home cooked meal, probably when Mrs. Kent still lived in Smallville."

He smiled at that. "Hopefully it's decent. Been awhile," he admitted.

"Well, you didn't have anything to worry about _last_ time you said that," she told him, smirking a little.

Oliver smirked back at her. "Glad you think so."

She brushed her nose against his and smirked, nodding, "now feed me, Mr. Queen."

He grinned at that. "So bossy," he teased, pulling away from her and leading the way into the kitchen.

"So... the whole, 'we shouldn't talk about this here' thing was just an excuse to get me into the lion's den where you could have me alone?" She teased.

"I'm not at all opposed to the evening going in that direction, but we should probably talk about things." He glanced back at her.

She followed him and held his gaze when he looked back at her then nodded a little, "we should."

He nodded, as well. "All right."

Chloe took a deep breath and leaned against the kitchen counter as she kept her eyes on him, "you have the floor."

Oliver had to bite back a remark about having done that the night before. "I like being with you," he told her honestly.

With a deep breath, Chloe smiled a little and nodded too, "I do too, Ollie," she said just as honestly, "other than Lois, I haven't really felt this comfortable around anyone in a while."

He nodded slightly, keeping his gaze on her. "I think we both know I haven't either."

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little, watching him worriedly for a moment, "thank you for letting me in."

"I'm okay, Chloe," he said softly, recognizing the worry in her eyes.

She held his gaze and nodded a little, "I think you're better," she agreed quietly, "but we still have a lot to work on, both of us."

"I know," he murmured, looking away for a moment.

Chloe hesitated for a second then stepped closer, placing a hand on his back, "I'll help anyway that I can."

Oliver looked back at her, meeting her eyes once more.

She looked him in the eye for a long moment then smiled just slightly. She had had no idea how broken he'd been until they went on the mission and the fact that even though he _knew_ she knew the truth and was trying to get through to him, he still didn't pull back meant the world to her.

He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What are we doing?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know," she admitted in a whisper, "what do you _want_?" She asked softly.

His gaze dropped involuntarily to her lips, his heart quickening in his chest. Her heart skipped a beat and she swallowed then shook her head a little, lifting a finger to his lips and holding his gaze, "no, Ollie, talk to me."

He met her eyes once more. "I want to see where this goes," he murmured.

Chloe let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and relaxed, brushing her thumb over his cheek, "I do too," she admitted, "but I want to keep this between us, at least for now."

He turned his head and kissed her thumb lightly. "I understand."

She watched him closely and nodded a little, "I could care less about what it would do to him or if it would hurt him," she told him firmly but kept her voice quiet, "but I don't want people to think of me as someone who would cheat and I don't want them to think I got my job because I was sleeping with you."

Oliver winced at that. "I don't want them to think that about you either." He hesitated, then kissed her forehead. "We'll keep it under wraps."

She closed her eyes for a moment then looked up at him again, "and I don't want anyone to think I'm with you because I'm trying to get something through you."

"I don't want anyone to think you're just another notch on my bedpost," he said softly, meeting her eyes.

Nodding slowly, she leaned in and brushed her nose against his, "besides," she smiled a little, "I think the sneaking around part could be fun."

A smirk tugged at his lips. "And kind of sexy," he murmured, kissing the corner of her mouth.

Turning her head, she took his bottom lip between her lips for a moment then nodded, letting go of it a moment later, "pretty sexy."

Oliver slid a hand down her back, pulling her a little closer to him. "Like you," he informed her.

Chloe pressed against him and lifted her arms to wrap around his neck, grinning as her cheeks suddenly got warm, "careful, Ollie, I'll get used to hearing those things and then I'll start demanding them all the time."

He smiled, kissing the tip of her nose. "You _should_ get used to hearing them," he warned.

She grinned, laughing softly and closing her eyes for a moment before meeting his gaze again, "there are _other_ things I definitely plan on getting used to..."

Oliver smirked. "Absolutely. We haven't even begun," he said softly, his lips against her ear.

Shivering, she closed her eyes and turned her head a little, "we should get on with dinner, then, so we can finally _begin_ ," she said, her voice low and deeper than usual.

"I really agree." He kissed her jaw softly.

Chloe turned her head a little more and kissed him full on the lips for a long moment then pulled back, smiling mischievously, "did I mention I told Lois not to wait up for me?"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Very glad to hear that."

Nodding slowly, she slid her hand down the front of his shirt, "so technically, we could _begin_ now, and leave dinner for later..."

"And here I thought you were hungry," he teased.

"I am," she said, smirking suggestively.

Oliver's eyes darkened a little and he reached behind him to shut the stove off. "What a coincidence," he murmured. "That makes two of us."

Biting down on the bottom of her lip, she started to undo the buttons of his shirt, "in that case, why don't you show me the portion of the clock tower I've never be to before?"

He looked down to watch her as she started to undress him, frowning a little as he saw a bruise on her arm. He reached out and stilled her hand against his chest. "Chloe?"

She paused at the change in his tone and frowned, looking up at him, "what?"

"What happened?" he asked, meeting her eyes and then looking down at her arm once more.

Chloe paused and blinked, looking down at her arm too, her eyes widening as she saw the purple bruise on it. She pulled her arm away from him and turned it so she could take a better look at it, "asshole."

His eyes narrowed at that. "Jimmy did this?"

Her jaw tightened and she nodded but didn't look up at him, "I wouldn't leave, he dragged me out."

Oliver's body tensed at the admission and wordlessly he moved away from her, heading toward the elevator.

"Oliver, stop." She said and immediately started after him.

"He has no right to put his hands on you out of anger!"

"I _know_ ," she told him, "and I wouldn't be surprised if the mark of my fingers are still on his face because he dared to."

He paused at that, turning to look at her.

Chloe raised her eyebrows and looked back at him, "I can take care of myself when it comes to him."

Oliver relaxed a little, despite the anger still coursing through his veins. He nodded a little.

"I appreciate you looking out for me," she told him, "but you don't have to in this case."

"So you're telling me not to go overboard with the over-protective thing." He smiled a bit.

She smiled a little and nodded, "pretty much," she told him quietly, "besides, we already had plans for the night."

"Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint." His voice was just as quiet. "I think you've probably had enough of that from the other guys in your life."

"More than enough," she agreed, walking over to him and taking both his hands in hers then starting to pull him away from the elevator and towards the stairs, "now, you were going to show me what's up there."

Oliver smiled, letting her guide him up the steps.

She held his gaze then turned around, still holding on to one of his hands as she tugged him up the stairs with her. At least she already knew how to distract him.

He leaned in, kissing her softly and then gently tugging her into his bedroom and shutting the door behind him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss deeply, holding him close to her as she did, she had the feeling she was already addicted to kissing him. Oliver slid his hand down her back and then up under her shirt, trailing his fingers lightly up and down her spine as they kissed. Chloe shivered then paused, breaking the kiss and taking a deep breath as she looked up at him, "wait."

He stopped immediately, pulling away to look at her. "What is it?"

"Do you have protection here?" She asked a little breathlessly, "because I haven't replaced the one in my purse."

He relaxed once more. "Yeah, I do," he assured her.

She relaxed too and smiled softly at him then nodded, "okay, good, I didn't want us to go too far and then have to stop," she explained, pulling her hands down and undoing the rest of the buttons of his shirt.

"Well, you do know there are always things that can be done even if we didn't have protection." He smirked a little and shrugged his shirt off before reaching for the hem of hers.

"Right," she smirked too, but not where she came from there weren't. Another thing she'd have to get used to. And she looked forward to it.


	13. Chapter 13

Oliver woke up slowly the next morning, his face buried in her hair as he lay behind her, arm draped around her waist. A faint smile touched his mouth and he shifted closer to her, kissing the back of her head lightly.

Chloe stirred in her sleep and pushed back against him a little, moaning quietly as she started to wake up slowly, not fully aware where she was for a full moment but when she felt his strong arm around her and his body pressed against her back, she remembered quickly and a smile appeared on her lips.

He closed his eyes, groaning involuntarily as she pressed back against him, his body waking up with her actions. He kissed her shoulder, trailing his hand down to her stomach slowly.

She actually giggled softly at his reaction and opened her eyes slowly then turned her head to look at him, "hi."

"Morning," he murmured, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

Chloe turned her head a little more and closed her eyes again, sighing softly, her body almost too relaxed to move, "what time is it?"

"No idea," he told her, pressing a kiss to her neck.

She shivered and grinned softly, "should we find out?"

"Time is highly overrated," he responded, trailing his hand lower.

Chloe shivered again and opened her eyes, nodding, "highly." She agreed with a whisper.

Oliver smirked as she shivered against him, sliding his hand between her legs and stroking her lightly. "Other things aren't overrated though."

"Oh," Chloe moaned, sliding her legs apart so he could have better access, "yes."

He watched her intently as he slipped a finger into her heat, curling it inside of her. "Better than coffee," he whispered against her ear.

She moaned louder, her back arching slightly as she shifted, sliding her hand behind her and wrapping her fingers around his length.

He dropped his face against her shoulder, sliding another finger inside her and stroking her even as he shuddered slightly against her hand.

Even as she moved her hand over him, she started to thrust her hips against his fingers, causing her ass to brush against him in sync with her hand, "Ollie," she moaned.

He pressed a kiss to her neck and then slid his fingers out of her, reaching down and stilling her hand before he shifted and opened the drawer of his nightstand. He quickly ripped open a condom and slid it over his length before curling up behind her closer. Reaching down, he lifted her knee a little, positioning himself and thrusting into her a moment later.

Chloe breathed deeply and lifted a leg back to wrap around the back of his leg and pull him further into her. Oliver moved within her slowly, sliding a hand up her torso to cup a breast. His thumb brushed over her nipple lightly, teasing it to a peak. "This okay?" he murmured.

"Yes," she said breathlessly, shuddering at his touch, she felt like every time her touched her, her entire body was set on fire.

He smiled against her neck, thrusting into her a little faster, a little harder. His fingers trailed down her body once more, slipping between her legs and rubbing her in time with their movements. Chloe moaned with each of their thrusts, the mix of him inside her and his hands on her was enough for her to pull her close to the edge already.

The sounds she was making was enough to propel him toward the edge. Sliding his other arm beneath her head, he dipped his head and kissed her urgently, stroking her quickly and adding more pressure as he bit down lightly on her lower lip. Just a couple of thrusts later and her body was trembling as her orgasm hit her full force and she cried out loudly, her body had been incredibly relaxed before so everything felt even stronger this time around.

Oliver thrust into her once more, his own climax hitting as he buried his face against her neck, kissing her there as he shuddered, as well.

She shuddered, her hand covering his as they slowed down to a stop, "god," she breathed.

He smiled at that, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against the pillows. "You're incredible," he told her softly.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes too, linking her fingers with his, "so are you."

Oliver gave her hand a gentle squeeze, pulling her back against his chest a little more. He exhaled slowly, lightly kissing her shoulder blade.

Squeezing his hand and relaxed against him and turned her face toward him, "maybe we should both quit so we don't have to do anything else." She suggested, smiling softly.

He grinned at that. "Very, very tempting."

Chloe took a deep breath and opened her eyes, smiling softly, "this _is_ better than coffee."

"Stick with me, Professor, and I'll expand your horizons," he teased, meeting her eyes.

She grinned, turning in his arms and raising her eyebrows, "you already have."

Oliver brushed his nose against hers, smiling and then kissing her forehead. "Glad I can help."

Chloe ran her fingers lightly over his back and smiled, looking up at him, "you really are amazing."

He lifted his hand to her cheek, holding her gaze. "So are you," he said quietly. "More than you know."

She held his gaze and leaned into his touch then turned her face and pressed her lips to his palm.

His eyes softened at her actions. "You're also incredibly beautiful."

Chloe grinned softly, a little embarrassed, "thank you," she said quietly, looking up at him again.

He smiled, brushing his thumb lightly over her cheek. "No thanks necessary. Just telling the truth."

"Well, I would say you are too," she said quietly, running her nails lightly over his back, "but I think gorgeous is a better word for you."

"That adjective suits you, too," he murmured, leaning in and kissing her softly.

She returned the kiss and wrapped her arm around him, hugging him slightly.

Oliver slid his arm around her, tracing his fingers over her back. "I vote we stay in bed today."

Chloe sighed deeply and smiled, nodding. "Tempting," she told him quietly, "but if both of us start not showing up to work at the same time, people might get suspicious, they might not notice I'm gone, but they will notice you're gone."

"Except today is Saturday." He grinned.

"Oh," she paused, thinking for a moment then grinned, "oh, it is Saturday..."

"Mmhmm." He chuckled softly. "You wanna go back to sleep?"

"Mmm," she took a deep breath and nodded slowly, "or you know, just stay here."

Oliver rubbed her back gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Works for me."

Chloe closed her eyes and nodded slowly, smiling softly, "I will, at some point, need to go downstairs and grab my phone to let Lois know I'm alive before she comes over and starts banging at the door."

A smile tugged at his mouth and he kissed her temple. "How about you stay here, and I'll go grab your phone and make some breakfast?"

"Hm," she considered for a moment then nodded, "I could eat, but I will come help you and then we can come back?"

"That sounds good." He nodded a little, dipping his head and kissing her softly once more.

Chloe returned the kiss and pulled him closer, smiling softly against his lips as she did. She hadn't really seen it coming until it was right in front of her, but now that they were there, it felt so natural, so right.

* * *

It was nearly Midnight when Oliver left his office, taking the stairs down to the main floor a few days later. He wasn't surprised to see Chloe still working at her desk, the glow of the computer screen highlighting her face. He smiled at the sight and glanced around. When he was sure there wasn't anyone else around, he walked over to her desk and perched on the corner of it. "Hey." 

She stopped typing and looked up a smile instantly appearing on her lips when she saw him, "hey."

He grinned at her. "Hope the boss isn't working you overtime," he teased.

"Nope," she told him, smirking softly, "just making up for all the late mornings I've been having lately."

He smirked back. "I have noticed you coming in later." His eyes twinkled mischievously.

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows and put on her best mock apologetic look, "well, I assure you it's for a very good reason, Mr. Queen."

"As long as it's for a good reason. Though I think I might need a detailed explanation of said reason." He leaned down a little, holding her gaze.

" _Detailed_?" She asked, the hint of a smirk appearing on her lips, "I might need a long time for that."

Oliver's eyes darkened a little. "Then perhaps we should consider taking this conversation behind closed doors." He stood up once more, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Are you requesting my presence in your office?" She asked, sitting up.

"I was thinking the copy room." He smirked.

"I suppose the copy room _is_ conveniently closer," Chloe said slowly, her eyebrows raised as she moved to stand up.

"I thought you might agree." Winking at her, he turned and headed toward it.

Chloe looked around casually, pursing her lips together a little as she did to make sure they weren't being watched.

* * *

Sighing, Jimmy Olsen made his way into the main floor of the Planet. It was late, and he was tired, but he realized after he'd gotten back home that he'd forgotten some papers he'd meant to grab. He walked over to his desk and grabbed the folder they were in, frowning as he realized Clark was going to need a copy of one of them. At least he wouldn't have to wait in line for the copier. Shrugging, he set the folder down once more, carrying the paper toward the copy room, oblivious to the sounds coming from inside.

He reached out and turned the door handle, stepping in and freezing as he caught sight of Chloe there, her skirt pushed up around her waist, arms and legs wrapped around the half-naked torso of none other than Oliver Queen as he pressed her up against the copy machine, thrusting inside her. "What the _fuck_?"

Chloe was breathing heavily, the copy machine moving behind her, her legs crossed at her ankles and locked behind Ollie, she didn't hear the door, but she did hear the loud and clear voice that spoke, her moan turned into a gasp and she opened her eyes, stilling completely as she tried to look over Ollie's shoulder to see who was interrupting them.

Oliver froze at the sound of the voice as well, glancing over his shoulder and staring at Jimmy. His arms tightened around Chloe just a little.

"Well, this explains a hell of a lot," Jimmy accused.

Her eyes widened when she finally recognized the voice and she stared up at Ollie for a moment before taking a deep breath and pulling her legs back, her heels making a loud clicking noise as they hit the floor, "get out." She told Jimmy.

"I could say the same thing to _him_ ," Jimmy retorted. 

Oliver's eyes narrowed and he straightened Chloe's skirt, zipped up his own pants and turned to face Jimmy. "You're going to want to take her advice."

Chloe straightened her shirt, closing it before stepping out from behind Oliver, " _you_ don't get to say anything to _him_ because none of _this_ is any of your business now, _get out_!"

"You're gonna pay for this," Jimmy informed her before turning and storming out.

She swallowed hard and took a deep breath, rubbing her hand over her temple and shaking her head a little, " _fuck_ ," she murmured.

Oliver shut his eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry."

Sighing deeply, she shook her head again and turned to look at him, "it's not your fault."

"Yeah. It kind of is," he said quietly, drawing in a breath.

"Oliver Queen," she said firmly, "you knew this was going to happen as much as I did, this is not your fault."

Oliver was silent for a moment. "So what do we do?" he asked quietly.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, "I don't know, talking to him won't be any help," she told him, sighing but grateful that he seemed to have dropped his guilt trip.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I could threaten to fire him."

Shaking her head again, she looked up at him, "Jimmy is vindictive, Ollie, he will sue you and make a big scandal of it if you threaten him."

He snorted. "It wouldn't be the first time I was in a scandal," he said with a slight shrug. "And he'd never win a lawsuit against me."

"No, but I don't want this for either of us," she told him, taking a step closer, "I don't want us to get stared at or not to be able to go out in public together."

He gazed at her. "All right. We need to figure something out, though," he said softly.

"Lets figure that out as we try to find him," she suggested, taking a deep breath, "I haven't gone back to there to grab my stuff anyway, might as well take the opportunity."

"I'll drive you," he offered, meeting her eyes. He didn't want her going over there alone since the last time she had, Jimmy had grabbed her hard enough to leave a bruise on her arm.

She nodded, holding his gaze for a moment then starting out of the copy room, she wanted to kill Jimmy for not only interrupting them, but also for thinking he had any right to say anything about who she had sex with.


	14. Chapter 14

Chloe glanced at Ollie and took a deep breath as the elevator doors opened on the top floor of the building she had nicknamed the Watchtower. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she could hear glass shattering inside of the apartment. Her jaw tightened and she stopped for a second then resumed her walking, trying for the door, not surprised when she found it unlocked, "Jimmy!" She called angrily the second she opened the door, mostly to catch him off his guard if he was throwing things and breaking things.

But she stilled at what she saw. The fireplace was lit and there was a trail of _her_ things from the bedroom to the corner of the living room where the fireplace was, clothes, pictures, newspaper cutouts, everything he had been able to get his hands on since he got back after seeing them.  
Oliver stared, a little stunned by what Jimmy had obviously done.

Jimmy appeared at the top of the stairs, holding a small plaque in his hands. Wordlessly, he heaved it over the railing, watching in satisfaction as it shattered on the floor below.

She gasped, her eyes widening as she looked at the pieces of the plaque, an award she had gotten from MetU for an article she had written during her senior year. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded, but it wasn't until she took a closer look at what was burning in the fireplace that her stomach really dropped and her eyes widened, "no." She said, quickly making her way over to it as she recognized the familiar bright orange filing box. The Wall of Weird, all of her articles, files, everything she had been collecting since 8th grade, all the memories of the Torch, all her articles and everything she'd worked so hard for.

"Son of a bitch," Oliver muttered as Jimmy hurled a wooden jewelry box over the railing next, watching as it splintered on the floor beside the shattered plaque. Without further hesitation, he took the steps two at a time, his hands curling into fists.

Chloe didn't notice Oliver's movement, she picked up one of the fireplace pokers and started trying to pull the box out of the fire, her chest tight as she saw the cover of the box was almost completely gone already. Oliver stalked over to Jimmy and slammed his fist into the man's face without warning, sending him to the floor. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" he demanded.

Jimmy cupped his face and glared at Oliver, picking up the closest thing he could find, which was one of Chloe's photo albums, and tossing it toward Oliver's head. He ducked easily, glaring right back at the man on the ground. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"

"Fuck you!" Jimmy said angrily, moving to stand up and glaring at Oliver, "isn't it enough that you're fucking my _wife_ , you wanna tell me what to do in my own house? Get out of here!"

"Oh, give me a fucking break," he responded with disgust. "Maybe if you had been a decent husband, you'd still _have_ a marriage."

"If my wife wasn't a _whore_ I'd still have a marriage." Jimmy spat.

Oliver yanked him up by his shirt collar and hit him again, this time in the stomach. "You don't get to talk about her like that."

Jimmy gasped, closing his eyes and at that same moment, a strong wind hit the apartment and Clark was now standing behind Jimmy in full Superman outfit, his hands on his hips, his jaw tight, " _let go of him_ ," he said tightly.

He shoved Jimmy back into Clark, glaring at the other man, his eyes intense. "Do you see what he's done?" he demanded, motioning for Clark to look around.

Clark looked around, noticing Chloe by the fire, clearly trying to pull something out he still then blew out a cold breath, putting out the fire instantly.

Chloe had felt the wind when he came in, but it wasn't until the fire was extinguished that she stopped and looked up, suddenly dropping the fire poker as the iron grew cold.

Clark stared down at her for a moment then looked down to Jimmy, "what is going on here?"

"I saw them. Together. At the Planet." Jimmy looked up at Clark. "She's been cheating on me with him!" He pointed at Oliver.

As soon as she realized that _all three_ of them were standing upstairs, she quickly started upstairs, her jaw tightening as as made it to the landing soon after Jimmy's accusations, "it's not _cheating_ when we're not in a relationship, Jimmy."

"We're still married!" he yelled angrily.

"And in the process of divorce," Oliver stated tensely.

Clark looked from Chloe, to Oliver and back to Jimmy, "you two should leave." He said simply.

"I am _not_ leaving until I get all my things and that _idiot_ " she glared at Jimmy, "understands that I'm _not_ his wife and that _my_ life is none of _his_ business!" She said angrily as she reached the trio, standing between Oliver and Jimmy.

"You are such a bitch," Jimmy spat.

Oliver glared at him, reaching out and taking Chloe's hand. "We're going to get the things that belong to Chloe that he hasn't destroyed or burned," he informed Clark.

Chloe took Oliver's hand but kept her eyes on Jimmy, "how can you be so damn immature?" She demanded, her eyes narrowing.

Clark looked at Chloe then down at Jimmy, "c'mon," he told him, "we'll get back when they are done."

"I don't want them here in my house without being supervised, CK," Jimmy said, looking up at him. 

Oliver's jaw tightened. "Unlike you, Jimmy, Chloe and I are actually civilized human beings," he responded.

Jimmy glared at Oliver, "having sex is the middle of the Planet and you call that civilized!?" He demanded.

He smirked. "No, I call that having a fantastic sex life," he said with a shrug.

At that, Chloe paused, raised her eyebrows and squeezed Oliver's hand, smirking "don't try to explain, Ollie. He wouldn't know the first thing about that." 

"That's his fault," Oliver said easily, smirk widening at the growing anger on Jimmy's face. He looked at Clark. "You should get him out of here until we get her things."

Clark's jaw was tight as he took Jimmy's arm, "c'mon," he said again, "I'll keep an ear out."

"You'll get yours, Queen," Jimmy said darkly, letting Clark lead him away. 

"Bring it on, _Kid_ ," he said without hesitation, his eyes darkening.

Clark glared at Oliver once more before disappearing with Jimmy.

Chloe sighed deeply when they left and looked over at Oliver, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

He turned to look at her, his expression softening instantly. "This isn't your fault, Chloe."

"I know," she assured him, looking up at him then tugging on his hand softly, "c'mon, lets just grab everything and leave."

He reached up and touched her face. "I'm sorry he did this to you."

"Thank you," she told him, her own expression softening as he touched her cheek, "but he's an asshole and I just want to get as far away from him as I can."

"You will," he promised quietly, kissing her forehead. "Let's get your things. Where do you keep laundry baskets?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and nodded, "there's one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom. I think there are a couple of suitcases under the bed."

Oliver nodded, as well, squeezing her hand a little before letting go and heading down the hall silently.

Chloe watched him for a moment then started moving around the small upstairs area, gathering photo albums and a couple of books and stacking them by the top of the stairs.

Oliver made his way into the bedroom, gathering her clothes from the closet. There weren't many, and several of them lay on the floor, shredded. His jaw tightened at the sight. He piled the ones that weren't damaged into the laundry basket, and then moved back to the closet, picking up a small box on the top shelf and pausing after he pulled the lid off. Inside lay two familiar items--an ear piece and a business card with just his handwriting on it. The number to his secret cell phone along with the words 'Whenever you need it.' His chest tightened a little at the sight. Part of him was surprised she'd kept it all this time, and the other part of him was just touched. He smiled faintly, tucking the box into the laundry basket and carrying it down the hall.

She looked up from the pile of books she had gathered on the floor when he came back, "thank you," she told him, immediately picking up an armful of things and getting ready to throw them inside the laundry basket, "I think this will be it from upstairs."

He set the basket down on the floor, watching her toss the things into the basket and then moving over to her, dipping his head and kissing her wordlessly. Chloe stilled, surprised by the kiss, she took a moment before kissing him back, her hand pressing against his chest as she did.

Oliver pulled away a moment later, a small smile on his face as he bent down to pick up the basket once more, carrying it toward the stairs.

She blinked a couple of times, pursing her lips together as she turned to watch him, her lips slowly breaking into a smile and she shook her head a little. So maybe a lot of her clothes had gotten ruined and maybe there wasn't much she could salvage from the Wall of Weird, not to mention that there was a good possibility that _everyone_ would know about her and Oliver in the morning. Still, she knew she was incredibly lucky to have found a guy like him.

* * *

Lois hadn't had a chance to finish her maple donut or drink her coffee by the time she made it into the Daily Planet the next day. She'd spent most of the night up writing an article on corruption among city officials that had taken some serious legwork and research to do, and she felt like a zombie. She didn't think anything of the hushed whispers around the bullpen as she made her way to her desk and dropped into her seat, taking another bite of the donut and turning on her computer. Yawning, she quickly downed the rest of her coffee, blinking tiredly as she logged onto the Daily Planet network, unaware of the figure approaching her desk.

Well, it wasn't so much _Lois'_ desk that Cat was approaching but the desk directly in front of hers. Chloe Sullivan's desk, more specifically. She pursed her lips together into a thin line and threw a glance at Lois. "When is your cousin coming in?" Cat Grant asked in a high pitched, curious voice.

"When she gets here," Lois responded without bothering to look up. As if hearing the woman's voice wasn't enough to get on her nerves, she didn't want to have to _look_ at her, too. 

"Is it _true_ that she's sleeping with Oliver?" She asked, not bothering with being subtle.

At that, she lifted her gaze and narrowed her eyes at Cat. "Excuse _me_?"

"That's what Clarky told me and _he_ would never lie to me," she told Lois matter of factly with a side of superiority.

Lois rose to her feet. "Here's a thought. Why don't you go tell Clarky to mind his own damn business?"

"Really defensive Lois, I'm gonna go with yes then!" She said cheerfully, "and it's everyone's business if your cousin is going to get benefits because she's sleeping with the editor, _we_ want a fair workplace." Cat paused thoughtfully and cocked her head, squinting as if she was trying to remember something, "wait, wait, isn't that how _you_ got your job here in the first place? By sleeping with that younger editor, what was his name...? Grant?" She said brightly and nodded, "Grant! Maybe this runs in the family."

"I'm sorry you're so jealous of my family and I because we have actual journalistic talent and don't write crappy articles that tabloid reporters wouldn't bother to wipe their asses on," Lois said calmly. "I'm sure if I lacked any kind of talent and integrity I would be an angry, bitter little harpy, too."

"Don't you forget, Lois, that I work in the same paper as you did, except _I_ have talent!" She grinned, looking around, "and even Clark likes me better than he likes you!" She told Lois then cocked her head, " _anyway_ , just let Chloe know I've been looking for her, we need some answers because like I said we all have the right to know!"

She rolled her eyes. "Enjoy the farm boy. I'm dating a billionaire," she responded with a smirk. "And I've heard from half the male staff here that you do have talent. But here's a piece of advice for you, Kitty." She took a step toward her. "Stay away from my cousin or you're going to be dealing with a much bigger problem than what shoes to wear to the next trashy party you go to."

Cat raised her eyebrows and looked up at Lois, "you and your cousin should watch out for _me_ ," she told Lois, sweetness gone from her voice, "I plan on letting your billionaires know you're just after their _money_."

At that, Lois actually laughed. "You're about as likely to get face time with Bruce and Ollie as I am to quit the Planet and join a convent." She leaned in. "But I'm not kidding. Stay away from Chloe. She's a hell of a lot nicer than I am. And unlike her? I _will_ fight dirty."

She took a step back and smiled at Lois, "so will I," Cat told her before turning around and walking away.

"Hey, Cat?" Lois raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Lois?" She said as she turned back around, her voice bright and bubbly again.

Lois beamed. "I think I'm gonna give my old friend Lana a call. You know, Lana _Lang_. See if she'd be up for a visit to Kansas." She smiled sweetly. Cat's face fell and her eyes narrowed as she looked at Lois before turning around and huffing as she walked away. "That's what I thought." She smirked as she watched the other woman's retreating figure.


	15. Chapter 15

Oliver had gotten into the Daily Planet early enough to avoid most people, though he somehow knew that wouldn't be the case for long. He knew it was only a matter of time before word got around because Jimmy Olsen wasn't going to stay silent. He'd do anything he could to hurt Chloe as much as possible. He gritted his teeth a little as he sat down at his desk, raking a hand through his hair. Despite Chloe's assurances that she wasn't upset with him and didn't blame him at all, Oliver couldn't help but feel responsible for the situation. He had, after all, been the one to suggest the copy room, and before that, he'd basically seduced her on the rooftop after she'd been accosted by the muggers on the street.

Sighing softly, he stared blankly at his computer screen for a long time, not bothering to turn it on. He didn't give a damn about his reputation personally--his personal life had been strung all over the news for most of his life. But he was sorry he was the reason that Chloe was going to get dragged through the mud with him, this time.

He looked up when the door to his office swung open without so much as a knock, not at all surprised to see Clark Kent standing in front of his desk.

Clark walked into Oliver's office and closed the door behind him, his jaw tight as he studied Oliver for a long moment, "what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm working," Oliver answered evenly, meeting Clark's eyes without a hint of intimidation.

"You know what I'm talking about, Oliver." Clark said tightly.

He rose to his feet. "And quite frankly, Clark, that's none of your business."

"What you do with Chloe _is_ my business." He told Oliver as he stepped closer to the desk, "and also how that affects Jimmy."

Oliver's jaw tightened. "Yeah, because you've been _such_ a great, supportive friend to Chloe the last few years from what she tells me," he said flatly, holding the other man's gaze. "Maybe you should go have a conversation with Jimmy about manhandling her out of anger, or trashing everything she owns even after he knew they were getting divorced."

"This isn't about Jimmy," Clark said, "I already talked to him yesterday."

"Well, it's certainly not about Chloe," he said, unimpressed. "I've seen about how much respect you have for her these days, so you'll have to try another one on me."

"How can you talk about respecting her? Jimmy told me what was happening when he found you."

He narrowed his eyes. "It's not like I dragged her in there against her will, Clark," he said, his jaw tightening. "She was a willing participant."

"You _talked_ her into it, Oliver." Clark said, his voice rising a little. "That's not like Chloe to do something like that."

Oliver snorted. "You don't know her as well as you think you do."

"I know Chloe better than you do." He said firmly.

He raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't place any bets on that one."

Clark's eyes narrowed, "what do you want with her, Oliver?"

"You know what? I'm done talking about this with you. It's not any of your business. You and I aren't friends, you and Chloe are barely friends, and I don't need a lecture." Oliver nodded toward the door. "You're free to go."

"It is my business, because I don't want to see you break Chloe's heart like you did with Lois." He told Oliver, staring at him.

"Yeah, because you care a lot about her, too. Go." He nodded toward the door again.

"I do care about her, I care about _both_ of them, unlike _you_." Clark said tightly before turning around.

"Don't tell me who I care about, Clark. You don't know me anymore. And frankly, if you want to keep your job, it's time for you to go." His jaw tightened.

Clark stopped and turned to look at Oliver again, "you can't use your money to get everything your way, Oliver."

"And you can't use your special abilities to get everyone to bow down to you. We're not all like Jimmy Olsen."

His jaw tightened, "leave him alone, Oliver." Clark warned, "you've caused enough damage already." He told him before turning away and making his way out of the office.

"Mind your own business, Clark," Oliver warned, his voice soft, knowing other man would hear him.

* * *

Chloe took a deep breath as she stepped inside of the elevator, her stomach in knots as she leaned back against the back wall and watched the numbers. She had stopped by Lois' after spending the night at Ollie's and had taken her time unloading her car from all the things she had grabbed the previous night, she knew Oliver was already at the Planet, but she didn't want to get there anywhere near the time he did, because although there was a possibility Jimmy and Clark hadn't told anyone yet, she knew there was an even bigger possibility that they had, more importantly, there was a big possibility they had already told Clark's girlfriend and if Cat Grant knew, the entire staff would know.

As the elevator doors slid open to reveal the busy bullpen, Chloe sighed deeply then pushed herself away from the elevator wall and slowly made her way out of the elevator car, the second the stepped into the large room, however, she could tell there was excitement in the air, it was louder than usual, people seemed to be typing faster, talking faster. She tried to assure herself that it was all in her head, but as she started making her way toward her desk and heads started turning in her direction one by one, she knew everyone had already heard the truth.

Her jaw tightened slightly and she wanted to wrap her fingers around his neck and choke him. But she held her head up high and made her way through the crowd like she normally would. Or as well as she could manage to anyway.

"Way to go, Sullivan," one of the reporters to her left murmured, smirking.

She ignored him, like she ignored all the others, and like she usually did in the mornings, she went to her desk and placed her purse in one of the drawers then made her way to the coffee room to get herself her third cup of coffee of the morning, she wished her cousin was there, but Lois was nowhere to be found, the only reason Chloe knew she'd made it work at all was because she saw her purse over her desk and her computer was on.

The same coworker who'd spoken to her before sauntered into the coffee room. "You wanna grab some lunch later?" he asked casually, leaning against the doorframe.

"No, Miller," Chloe said shortly, not turning to look at him as she waited for the coffee maker.

"We could always forgo lunch." He smirked, watching her intently.

Her jaw clenched and she turned to look at him, "I don't know _what_ you've heard," she said quietly, but tightly, "but I would rethink your plan of hitting on me after you found out I'm in a _relationship_ with the man who signs your paycheck."

He chuckled. "Sure you are," he responded, raising an eyebrow. "Screwing your boss in the copy room doesn't exactly equal a relationship, and from what I've heard, Oliver Queen doesn't _do_ relationships in the first place."

At that, Chloe smirked, "well," she told him as she turned away to pick up her mug then back at him, "there's a piece of news for you." She said as confidently as she could as she walked past him, her heart beating hard against her chest. Sure, she and Oliver hadn't had any kind of conversation about becoming exclusive, nothing more than wanting to see where things would go, but she hadn't been able to help herself. She would apologize to Oliver later and explain if necessary.

"Uh huh. Well, when he leaves you high and dry, I may still be open to...hanging out for awhile." He smirked as he watched her go.

She did her best not to react to his words as she made her way to her desk, because as much as she wanted to turn around and shower him with her very hot coffee, she didn't think causing a scene would actually help matters. Besides, every other person in the room seemed to have their eyes on her.

"I have to admit, I didn't think you had it in you to show up here today," Jimmy said as he walked past her desk.

Her jaw tightened once more as she turned to look at him, "I suggest you stay far away from me before I change my mind about pressing charges."

He snorted. "Oh, try it, Chloe." He turned his head to look at her, motioning to the bruise on his jaw. "I'll happily return the favor to Oliver."

"The difference is, Jimmy," she said quietly, the hint of a smile appearing on her lips, "you can't afford a good lawyer. In fact, you will barely even be able to afford mortgage now."

He shrugged. "I wonder how much money I'd end up making if I offered to give up the identity of the Green Arrow." Smirking at her, he turned and headed away.

"You're not the only one with that kind of power," Chloe reminded him, her heart beating fast against her chest as she did her best to look calm and neutral, she wanted to get out of there, but she wasn't going to give in to them, she wasn't going to give Jimmy that satisfaction. So she let her breath out slowly, doing her best not to make it noticeable as she took her chair and focused her attention on her computer screen.

"Chloe?" Lois perched on the edge of her cousin's desk.

Chloe almost sighed in relief at the sound of her cousin's voice. She looked up at her and tried for a smile, "hey."

She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, meeting Chloe's eyes. She reached down and picked up her cup of coffee, taking a sip of it then handing it back to Chloe. "I have a feeling we're going to need more coffee than usual today."

Pursing her lips together a little, Chloe met Lois' eyes and she didn't have to ask her if she had heard, even if Lois probably didn't know the whole story, her expression told Chloe she knew enough, "I don't think coffee is strong enough for today."

"We'll get through it," Lois said firmly. "And after work, we'll go for something much stronger."

"Sounds like a plan," Chloe agreed, taking a deep breath and smiling a little.

She reached out and gave her cousin's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks, Lo," she told her quietly, glancing around then pursing her lips together, "think we can plant a bomb somewhere so people have something more interesting to talk about?"

Her eyes were sympathetic. "Give them five minutes. Their attention spans aren't that good."

"I know," Chloe agreed quietly, smiling slightly.

Lois nodded and rose to her feet, moving to sit behind her own desk. "Besides," she said loudly. "Their own lives are completely empty and pathetic. It's why they're so interested in ours."

"That I can't argue with," she said just loud enough for Lois to hear as she shifted on her chair and turned her attention back to the screen. She had no intention of getting even more attention on herself.

* * * 

At four o'clock, Oliver made his way out of his office and down to the bullpen, ignoring the looks and whispers around him as he squared his shoulders and headed straight toward Chloe's desk. He offered her an honest, easy smile. "Hey."

Her eyes widened and she blinked, looking up when she heard his voice, she quickly glanced around, "hey," she said quietly, doing her best not to show how much she was panicking inside.

"Breathe," he whispered just loudly enough for her to hear.

"What are you doing here?" She asked just as quietly as he had spoken. They had exchanged a couple of emails during the day and she had told him she wasn't going to see him because she wanted to keep the gossip to a minimum, it was bad enough that their co-workers already had such a big insight on their sex lives.

Oliver drew in a breath. "I did some thinking. And if people are talking and assuming they know what's going on, then there's no reason to hide. And we can either let them think the worst about us, or we can show them that we don't give a damn what they think. And I don't know about you but I'd rather do the latter." He gazed at her intently. "So what do you say we go out for dinner?" 

Chloe kept her eyes on him for a long moment, considering what he was saying and while she knew he had a point, she didn't know if how they acted would actually matter. But she supposed the whole just trying to ignore them thing was going to be easier with him then doing it alone. So with a deep breath, she nodded a little, "okay, let me just close up."

Nodding, he stepped back and offered her a small, reassuring smile.

She smiled a little at him and nodded before turning her attention back to her computer, saving everything she was working on quickly then shutting it off before taking a deep breath and standing up as she picked up her purse and coat. Her heart beating fast against her chest and she could tell the bullpen was nearly completely silent, something that never happened.

Oliver gazed at her, then held his arm out for her to take, remaining silent. 

Even Lois watched with rapt attention, although there was a small, knowing smile on her face.

Chloe smiled a little at his actions and took his arm, holding his gaze for a second then turning to her cousin, "talk to you later." She told her, smiling a little more.

Lois grinned at her. "Later," she echoed before turning her attention to her computer once more. 

Oliver smiled softly, leading them toward the elevator, ignoring the looks from all around them. "So I'm thinking Mexican," he told her with a wink.

"Mexican?" She asked, nodding and raising her eyebrows, "that sounds good."

He watched as the elevator doors slid shut then looked down at her. "You all right?" This time his voice was soft, worried.

Chloe took a deep breath once they were alone and nodded a little, "just looking forward to not being here. Not exactly used to all the attention." She admitted. Being married to Jimmy for two years, attention was the last thing she was used to.

"I'm sorry, Chloe," he whispered.

"It's not your fault, Ollie," she assured him, squeezing his arm a little as she glanced at the changing numbers before looking at him again.

He was quiet for a moment. "I'll figure out a way to deal with this."

"No," she said firmly, " _we_ will." She told him, holding his gaze.

Oliver watched her for a moment, then leaned in and kissed the top of her head lightly.

She took a deep breath and willed herself to relax, instinctively pulling a little away from him as the elevator doors slid open, "c'mon," she told him quietly.

He held his breath as she pulled away, nodding and following her off the elevator and toward the Planet's exit, nodding at the doorman. He grimaced involuntarily as he spotted the crowd of reporters from other papers and networks outside. "Crap," he muttered.

Chloe's eyes widened and she instinctively lifted her coat, which she was still carrying, to cover her face as much as she could as a sudden wave of flashes hit both of them, she knew the Planet reporters could never print anything about them, but that didn't mean that no one in the staff hadn't alerted the _other_ papers.

Oliver slid his arm around her protectively, pulling her close as they left the building, his jaw tight with anger as he led them through the crowd, ignoring the questions being shouted at them. 

"Is it true you're sleeping with Mr. Queen?" 

"Mr. Queen, is it true you rehired Miss Sullivan after starting a sexual relationship with her despite the fact that she's married?" 

He drew in a breath, walking them quickly toward his car and opening the passenger side door for her to get in.

Chloe's jaw was tight and her heart was beating quickly as she got into the car without hesitation and watched as he closed the door behind her, her eyes were narrowed and her hands were in fists around her coat as she lowered it to her lap.

Oliver slid into the driver's seat, starting the engine and peeling away from the curb quickly, his fingers tight around the steering wheel.

She glanced over her shoulder as they moved away from the building, some photographers trying to run after the car. She was quiet for a long moment then took a deep breath, "I'm going to kill him." She said finally.

He was silent for a few seconds, then glanced over at her. "We could have Bart drop him on Mosquito Island. He'll never be able to talk to anyone ever again."

Chloe glanced at him, she wasn't sure if he was joking, he didn't seem like he was, but the idea sounded appealing, except, "Clark will be there to save his BFF within seconds," she said angrily, taking a deep breath and rubbing her hands over her face.

"Not if I shove a Kryptonite arrow up his ass," he grumbled.

She sighed deeply and ran her hands over her hair, before dropping her hands to her lap, "what are we going to do?"

Oliver blew out a breath, staring at the road ahead. "I don't know," he admitted softly.

Chloe leaned back against the seat and sighed again, looking out of the window, "I'm sorry this happened." She told him quietly after a long moment of silence.

His eyebrows furrowed at that and he glanced at her sideways. "Chloe, this isn't your fault. You don't need to apologize to me."

"I should have handled things better with Jimmy," she said as quietly as she had before.

His chest tightened a little and he shook his head. "And I shouldn't have seduced you on the roof that night." His voice was just as quiet as hers.

Chloe paused and frowned at his words, turning to look at him, "what?"

"Chloe." He swallowed hard. "You have to admit, all I've done since I got back to Metropolis is complicate your life even more than it already was."

All she could do was stare at him for a long moment, "Oliver, you can't be serious."

"I'm not saying I regret it," he said softly. "I'm too selfish for that. But I am sorry for the fallout."

"No," she told him, shaking her head, "you have _no_ idea what you're saying, Oliver. This might be complicated, but I will take this over the life I had before you walked back into it _any_ day." She said seriously.

He paused at that, glancing at her once more, mostly to see if she was serious. "Really?"

"Yes," she told him firmly, seriously as she watched him closely for a long moment before shaking her head and taking a deep breath, "I was working at a job I hated, I couldn't do half of what I know I'm capable of there, I was completely disconnected from this other side of my life that had been such an immense portion of it for years before, I was miserable in my relationship and I was living with one of the few people who actually manage to get on my nerves. I had _nothing_ to look forward to with the exception of occasionally hanging out with Lois." She paused. "Now I have so much more."

Oliver fell silent for a moment, then pulled the car into the garage at the clock tower, putting it into the park position and turning to face her. He reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear, then leaned in and kissed her softly on the mouth.

She returned the kiss just as softly for a moment before pulling back just slightly and sighing deeply as she kept her eyes closed and leaned her nose against his cheek. "We'll be okay," he murmured, sliding his hand into her hair and letting his eyes close, as well.

Sighing deeply once more to try and calm herself down, she shifted closer to him and wrapped an arm around him, "I guess wishing things were simple for a change was too much to ask."

He slid his arm around her in return, pulling her closer and gently rubbing her back. "With our lives it's probably a futile wish," he murmured, resting his head atop hers.

Chloe relaxed just slightly against him and nodded a little, "then I guess we have no choice but to deal with what life throws at us."

"At least we can deal with it together?" His voice was almost inaudible, a hint of uncertainty in it.

With a deep breath, she nodded a little and pulled her head back to look at him, "if you still want to."

Oliver met her eyes, then kissed her again, this time a little more urgently. "Does that answer your question?" he murmured.

Chloe nodded slowly and tightened her arm around him just slightly, "that will make it easier."

He slid his other arm around her, as well, hugging her close to him.

Shifting even closer, Chloe cupped his cheek and kissed him once more, "should we just get upstairs and... not go anywhere for a while?" She asked quietly, she knew it was a miracle they made it inside the garage without another group of reporters following them in, or trying to anyway, she didn't want to risk leaving the building.

"Yeah. I think that sounds like a good plan," he agreed softly, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I'll talk to Lo later, ask her what she knows and see if she has any ideas," she suggested quietly, brushing her thumb against his cheek.

"All right." Oliver kissed the corner of her mouth softly, closing his eyes.

Chloe returned the kiss, leaning closer for a second before pulling back and looking up at him, smiling slightly, "or we could just disappear somewhere where no one knows who we are for about two months."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Careful or I might start making plans to kidnap you and go to some tropical location with just the clothes on our backs."

With a deep breath, Chloe shook her head a little, "we'd still have to deal with everything when we got back, even if that does sound pretty amazing."

"I know," he admitted. "But it's nice to think about anyway."

"It is," she agreed, "maybe when this is over we can do something like that?" She suggested, because although Chloe didn't want him to feel like she was taking advantage of his money, now that he had mentioned, it truly sounded pretty amazing to be away from everything and everyone with the exception of Oliver.

"You just say the word," he told her with a soft smile, searching her eyes.

Smiling softly, she held his gaze and nodded a little before taking a deep breath, "c'mon, we don't want to risk anyone breaking into your garage and finding us."

"They'll have a hard time with that one," he informed her, hitting a button on the remote, alarming the garage.

She raised her eyebrows and looked at the remote then around them as red lights flickered all around the garage, "well... one of the advantages of owning the entire building?" She asked, smiling and relaxing a little.

He flashed her a grin. "Exactly." He pulled the keys out of the ignition and made his way around to the passenger side, opening the door for her.

"Thank you," she told him, grabbing her purse and climbing out of his car.

He smiled at her, offering her his arm and heading toward the elevator.

As they walked, Chloe felt a little better about the whole situation. Yes, going to work every day and having people whispering behind her back or even saying things to her face would suck, but if they could just come back here or even just go hang out at Lois' night after night and unload, she had the feeling it could be okay.


	16. Chapter 16

Lois was quite proud of herself as she made her way up the elevator to Oliver's penthouse apartment the next morning, pressing the buzzer repeatedly. It was early--they were probably still sleeping, but she was fairly certain they'd want to hear the news from her rather than the papers.

Chloe stirred in her sleep and groaned a little at the loud, repeated noise, rubbing her hand over her face before opening her eyes, "Ollie?" She murmured, turning toward him, she felt like they hadn't slept at all. They had ended up making dinner the previous night, well, Ollie made it while she watched, and they had had a lot of wine to relax and even after they decided to go to bed, they still spent hours talking things out and thinking of solutions for their situation.

"Hmm?" He shifted slightly in the bed, turning his head toward her.

"Buzzer," she told him, nudging him awake, "someone is out there." She murmured as she forced herself to a sitting position.

He grimaced, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. "It's too early," he grumbled, looking over at the clock.

She rubbed her hands over her eyes and sighed, then stilled, suddenly fully alert, "think it could be the media?"

"Not with my security system," he told her, shaking his head. "Only the team has it." He paused, groaning. "And Lois."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded slightly, "I'm going to bet on my cousin." She told him, reluctantly pushing herself up from the bed and looking around the room for her clothes.

"I'm going to bet you're right about that." Especially when the buzzer sounded again after only a couple seconds. He smirked a little, rubbing his face as he sat up. "Definitely Lois."

She couldn't find her shirt, or her bra for that matter, so she picked up one of his shirts and slid it on along with her skirt and started her way down the narrow stairs without waiting for him, "it better not be anything bad," she told him even as she made her way out of his room.

He sucked in a breath as she slid one of his shirts on and headed away without giving him a second look, his eyes following her form until she vanished from sight. Swallowing hard, he rubbed his face again, exhaling slowly and quickly grabbing his sweatpants from the floor, and tugging another shirt over his head before following her.

With a deep breath, Chloe pressed the camera to check on their lovely visitor and sure enough, there was her cousin. Chloe frowned slightly when she saw the look on her face through the video, however and buzzed her in without a word.

Lois waltzed into the living room with a bright smile. "Morning, Cuz," she greeted Chloe, grin brightening a little more as she took in Chloe's clothes. "Guess your night was better than the day."

Cocking her head a little, Chloe took her cousin's appearance in right back and frowned more, "and you look like you haven't slept at all," she was far too awake for seven in the morning, not to mention, too dressed up, "what's going on?"

"Well, I haven't," she admitted. "Bruce is in town." She grinned again and plopped down on the sofa, propping her feet up on the coffee table and stretching her arms over her head, pretending to yawn and flashing the diamond on her left hand in her cousin's direction.

Chloe stilled as the light from one of the windows hit the huge rock just right, cause it to shine and making it impossible to miss, "you're--" she paused, walking over to her cousin and taking her hand, "you're engaged!?"

Lois smiled up at her. "I am."

"Well, it's about time _someone_ made an honest man out of Bruce Wayne." Oliver smirked as he stepped into the room. "Congratulations."

Glancing back at Ollie for a moment, Chloe squeezed her cousin's hand and smiled, "congratulations, Lo," she paused, "are you sure it's not too soon?"

"Well, we're not in a rush to get hitched." Lois shrugged. "We're both okay with a long engagement. But." She grinned once more, and produced the copies of the Inquisitor and the Ledger that she'd bought before she'd driven over, holding them out. "Your news isn't so front page worthy in comparison to ours." She winked at Chloe.

And Chloe's eyes widened even more as she read the front page of both papers after taking both from Lois, the skimmed the articles then looked back at her cousin, "Lois..."

Lois smirked. "Bruce enjoys putting on a big show," she said with a shrug. "It worked out for all of us."

She glanced at Ollie, uncomfortable then sat down next to her cousin, "but you didn't agree to this just to take away press attention, right?" Chloe whispered worriedly. It was bad enough that she had made all the wrong decisions when it came to her marriage, she didn't need her cousin to do the same, especially not because she was trying to protect her.

Her eyes softened. "No, of course not," she assured Chloe, reaching out and hugging her tightly.

Oliver sat down on the armrest of the sofa, watching the two of them with a soft, albeit somewhat sad smile.

Chloe wrapped her arms back around Lois and hugged her closely, she wanted to ask her more questions, to make sure Lois wasn't making a mistake, but despite all her worries, Chloe knew Lois loved Bruce and she had been happier than she had even seen her cousin in a relationship before, even with Ollie or Clark. She knew Bruce's secret, and Chloe had ended up figuring it out on accident too, but what really mattered was that whenever Lois talked about Bruce, her eyes sparkled and Chloe knew she was feeling those butterflies in her stomach, even though they had already been together for over a year.

"I'm guessing you two haven't had breakfast yet. Or coffee. I could make some," Lois volunteered, glancing toward the kitchen.

Oliver's eyes widened a little. "No!" He smiled quickly, shaking his head. "I'll fix us all something. You're a guest," he said quickly, heading into the kitchen.

Lois smirked as she watched him go. "So easy."

Shaking her head, Chloe couldn't help but smile a little, turning her head to watch Oliver as he walked away, "he really is."

Her smirk widened a little and she looked at Chloe once more. "And he's got it bad."

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little as she turned to look at Lois once more, "what?"

"For you," Lois clarified, leaning back against the sofa. "He's got it bad for you."

With a deep breath, Chloe stilled then shook her head, glancing toward the kitchen before looking back at Lois, "none of that, I'm not rushing into anything this time," she warned her cousin then smiled a little and nodded at her ring, "now tell me all about _that_."

"No rushing," Lois agreed. "Just telling you what I'm seeing."

"Okay, well, back to more important subjects," Chloe told her cousin, not bothering with subtly, "tell me."

She grinned at Chloe. Subtly just didn't run in their family and she was okay with that. It was overrated anyway. "He proposed to me right outside the Daily Planet," she informed her cousin. "The whole down on one knee thing."

Chloe raised her eyebrows and sat up at the information, "in front of everyone?" She asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

Lois smirked. "He knows me."

"It sounds like he does," she agreed, eyes on Lois.

She grinned brightly. "We should all do something while Bruce is in town."

"Oh yeah, we should, now I _really_ need to talk to him."

She raised an eyebrow. "Just remember that if you get to interrogate, so do I." She looked toward the kitchen.

Raising her eyebrows, she shook her head a little, "completely different situations, Lois."

Lois shrugged. "That may be but it makes no difference to me."

Shaking her head, Chloe considered Lois, " _if_ you really have to, and I know I can't stop you, just go easy on him?" She glanced toward the kitchen and back at Lois, "you know he's doing a lot to help."

She smiled at that. "I know he is. He got you back at the Planet, where you belong, and you're smiling more than I've seen you smile in I can't even remember how long. As long as he keeps it up, he's got my vote."

Chloe couldn't help but smile at that and she nodded slowly, relaxing, "good. As long as you are giving him all due credit."

"Relax, Cuz. I like Ollie."

"I know you do," Chloe nodded a little then took a deep breath and smiled, "so what do you wanna do to celebrate? Are you throwing an engagement party?"

Her eyes widened a little. "I don't know. I hadn't really considered it." She paused, then shook her head. "I was thinking more along the lines of dinner for four."

"Okay," Chloe agreed, nodding and smiling a little, "we can do that and if you change your mind about a party, we can do that too."

"It's not like we don't have plenty of time." Lois leaned back on the sofa, tucking her legs beneath her. Without warning, she yelled toward the kitchen, "What are you making for breakfast?"

Chloe took a deep breath and stood, walking over to the kitchen, "do you need any help?"

Oliver turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows. "No, no. Everything's fine," he informed her.

"Don't worry, I'm not Lois," Chloe reminded him, smirking at the look on his face.

"I've heard rumors that culinary skills don't run in your family," he said warily, eyeing her.

"Oh, that's not a rumor," Chloe assured him, "but I still can, I don't know, chop stuff up or do other things that don't involve cooking, like make coffee."

He grinned at that. "Coffee's already brewing, Professor, but I won't turn down company."

"Company it is, then," she told him, smiling at him, feeling a lot better than she had the previous day.

He met her eyes, returning her smile easily. "So Lois is engaged to Bruce Wayne."

"Yep," Chloe agreed, nodding a little, "kinda weird to think of your ex girlfriend going out with your school friend?"

He cocked his head to the side for a moment, considering that. "Surprisingly? Not really."

She relaxed a little at that and nodded, "good, and by the way?" Chloe lowered her voice and glanced in the direction of the living room then stepped closer, "I'm apologizing in advance if she comes talk to you about us."

A smile tugged at his lips. "I've actually been wondering when that was going to happen."

"Well, it's the price you'll be paying so I can do the same to Bruce Wayne," she explained, pursing her lips together.

Oliver smirked involuntarily. "Nice. Thanks for throwing me on the chopping block," he teased.

"Hey, priorities," she teased, leaning closer and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

He turned to face her, sliding an arm around her waist and tugging her a little closer, kissing her mouth softly. "As long as it's for a good cause."

Chloe raised her hand to his arm and squeezed it gently. "Is grilling Bruce Wayne a good cause?" She asked, smirking.

"And a good time." He smirked a little more.

She laughed softly and kissed him once more, "I'll make sure you're within hearing distance."

Oliver grinned, kissing her once more, as well. "Almost done with the eggs," he told her.

"Thank God! I'm starving to death in here!" Lois called loudly.

"C'mon," Chloe called out to Lois, dropping her hand from Ollie's arm and squeezing his hand before letting go, "come help me set the table." She told her cousin.

"But I'm a guest," she returned with a groan, even as she rose to her feet.

Oliver chuckled.

"So am I," she reminded Lois, smirking at Ollie as she turned to grab some plates.

"No offense, Chlo, but I think you're a little more than a _guest_ ," Lois responded with a smirk of her own as she started opening up cupboards to look for glasses.

Chloe shrugged and rolled her eyes, "still a guest," she said, nudging Lois' side before moving over to the kitchen table.

Lois's smirk widened at that and she set the glasses down beside the plates. "A _special_ guest." 

"Right," Chloe shook her head, "whatever that means Mrs. Wayne."

Oliver carried the pan of eggs to the table and scooped some out onto all three plates before moving back into the kitchen and setting the pan in the sink. Then he opened the fridge and got out the container of orange juice.

Chloe picked up the coffee pot and moved it to the table, "so where do you wanna go and when, Lo?"

She took a bite of the eggs and raised her eyebrows. "Hell, Ollie could cook for us," she joked.

Raising an eyebrow, Chloe cocked her head, "he's already making you breakfast, you want him to make you dinner too?"

"You don't?" Lois grinned brightly and took another bite. 

Oliver shook his head in amusement, pulling out a chair for Chloe and then sitting down. "Maybe we should find out of if _your_ boyfriend has any culinary skills."

"Oh," Chloe raised her eyebrows, "a cook off." She suggested mischievously.

"Please. I'd win that hands down," Oliver informed her with a smirk. 

Lois raised an eyebrow. "I remain unconvinced, Queen." 

"Eat your breakfast," Chloe suggested, "if you need a reminder of how good he is." She said with a smirk, sure that Ollie had cooked for Lois back when they were dating and that thought should really make her feel awkward that she was sleeping with her cousin's ex, but looking between the two of them, the fact that they both looked incredibly comfortable in this situation and the fact that Lois had been so incredibly supportive of them helped her relax and enjoy the company of her two favorite people.

* * *

Oliver walked alongside Chloe, a few feet behind Lois and Bruce as they left the restaurant after dinner that night. They'd wound up renting the entire place just to avoid the media circus dying to get pictures of the four of them together, but it had been worth it. He looked at Chloe sideways, taking in her green blouse and the skirt she was wearing. As always, she looked beautiful. He suddenly wished he'd thought to bring her flowers. Instead he reached out and slid his fingers through hers.

Chloe smiled up at him and gave his hand a soft squeeze. Neither one of them had made it to work that day, they both decided they could do the majority of their work from Oliver's anyway, but since Chloe didn't actually have any clothes at Ollie's, she had to make her way to Lois' after all. The two of them for ready there, together and Oliver and Bruce met with them there a few minutes before it was time to leave.

"I still can't believe you guys rented the entire place out," Chloe commented quietly to Ollie.

He smiled a bit. "It was worth it."

She smiled back at him, they'd spent so much time together in the past couple of days and yet, it didn't feel like enough, "whose idea was it?"

He pursed his lips and glanced at her sideways, shrugging a little noncommittally. "I figured we could use the break from the press."

Nodding a little, she smiled and pursed her lips together, "kinda ironic considering where we work."

"I know," he said softly, looking down at the sidewalk as they walked.

Chloe kept her eyes on him as they walked then cocked her head a little, lowering her voice, "are you okay?"

"I'm good," he assured her softly, giving her hand a light squeeze.

She watched him for a moment longer as they walked, stopping herself from leaning closer and reminding herself that they _were_ in public and any attention on themselves was a bad thing.

Oliver felt her pause for the briefest of moments and he glanced over at her. "Are _you_ all right?"

"Yeah," she told him quietly, "nice to be outside, even if our imprisonment only really lasted like twelve hours." She joked.

He winced a little, involuntarily. "Chloe, seriously. If you want to get out of Metropolis for a few days, we can do that. Or even if you'd rather go somewhere yourself. Or with Lois."

"You don't wanna go anywhere?" She asked quietly, a frown appearing in her face.

"I just meant...if you'd rather go by yourself somewhere," he said softly. "To avoid more cameras."

Shaking her head, she tightened her grip on his hand, "no, I wouldn't want to do that."

"You wouldn't?" His voice was quiet as he turned to look at her.

"Well, I would want to avoid them," she explained, smiling softly, "but not by myself, and I have the feeling Lois will be very busy for a while..."

"With the engagement," he said with a small smile, relaxing a little.

Chloe brushed her thumb over the back of his hand and smiled, "with telling Bruce how much she appreciates the ring," she teased.

He chuckled involuntarily at that. "Right."

She relaxed when he chuckled and nodded a little, there had obviously been a big change on Oliver in the past couple of weeks and she knew this wasn't the time to bring up the team, but they would have to talk about it soon, "so what do you say we skip work on Friday and have a long weekend?"

His eyes lit up. "Yeah?" There was a hint of hope in his voice as he turned to look at her once more.

Pursing her lips together into a smile, Chloe nodded a little, "as long as my boss doesn't mind."

"Well, I suppose I could have a chat to him. See what I can do." He grinned.

She grinned a little and nodded, "I think, if anyone can convince him it's you."

"Oh, I don't know. Somehow I think there's someone else who might have an even easier time convincing him." His eyes twinkled.

"Oh?" She raised her eyebrows, cocking her head and looking up at him innocently, "is that so?"

He smiled, then let go of her hand, sliding his arm around her waist and tugging her close to his side. "Yep."

"In that case, I should work on it tonight," she told him, wrapping her arm around him too and cocking her head back so she could see him better.

"You don't have to work on anything. He's already convinced."

"Maybe I should thank him, then?" She asked, squeezing his side lightly.

"I don't think he'd protest," he murmured.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and shifted her hand so she could slide it under his jacket, "I'll keep that in mind."

Oliver's eyes narrowed a little, darkened. "Maybe we should get back to the clock tower," he suggested.

"Well, if Lois is done celebrating..." She said quietly, smirking up at him.

"Lois and Bruce should go do some celebrating of their own in a more private setting," he informed her, smirking back.

"I suppose they _would_ want that," she agreed, biting down on her bottom lip.

He groaned involuntarily. "Keep that up and the media's going to have a whole new reason to talk about us," he murmured.

"No getting us arrested," she told him, considering for a moment before sliding her hand inside his shirt, "or we won't be able to take the weekend off."

He closed his eyes, his jaw tightening ever-so-slightly at her actions. "Chloe," he warned, his eyes intense.

"Yes, Ollie?" She said quietly, brushing her index finger against his side.

Without further hesitation, he dipped his head, kissing her and not giving a damn who might see them.

Chloe gasped and returned the kiss for a moment then pulled back, eyes a little wide. She really had no idea how much effect the simple touch was having on him until he kissed her.

"We need to get back to the clock tower," he informed her without a hint of kidding.

"Okay," she told him in a whisper, taking a deep breath and holding his gaze even as she spoke again, "Lo?"

Lois paused and turned to look at her cousin. "Yeah?"

She cleared her throat and turned to look at her cousin, "I think we're gonna head back."

She raised an eyebrow, then smirked. "All right. Have a good night, Cuz." She winked at Chloe.

"You too," Chloe told Lois, smiling a little.

"Queen, Ms. Sullivan," Bruce added with a nod, his arm still around Lois.

"Oh, we will," Lois assured her, grinning brightly.

Oliver nodded back at Bruce and Lois. "Good to see you both again."

Chloe smiled then waved a little at the two of them, moving her hand that was inside Ollie's shirt into his hand and giving it a squeeze, "c'mon," she told him.

He squeezed her hand in return, guiding her across the street as they walked toward his car.

She walked quickly with him, not letting go of his hand, "if only there was a faster, more _exciting_ way of getting back..." she said quietly.

Oliver smirked and glanced at her sideways. "Afraid you're going to have to settle for an old fashioned ride back this time, Professor."

"A girl can wish," She told him, smirking a little more.

He grinned, unlocking the door to his car and opening the passenger side for her.

Chloe held his gaze as she got inside the car and smirked up at him for a second then pulled her legs inside.

Oliver groaned as he watched her. "You're intentionally trying to torture me," he accused, moving around to the driver's side.

"Torture you?" She asked as she turned toward him once he got inside, "what do you mean?" She said innocently.

He gave her a look and started the engine.

She smirked and was quiet for a moment before she casually placed a hand against his thigh and gave it a slow squeeze, "I'm just glad we're not that far."

He inhaled sharply at the touch. "Assuming we make it there without a wreck." He swallowed hard.

"Just focus, Ollie." She told him quietly, enjoying every little reaction from him. She had never tried anything like this before, mostly because she had never really enjoyed sex before and therefore never really initiated it. But she loved having this kind of power, it made her feel sexy and pretty amazing.

"Just remember, Chloe," he murmured, keeping his eyes on the road and his hands on the steering wheel. "That turnabout is fair play."

"Yeah?" She licked her lips and moved her hand higher against the inside of his thigh, "what are you going to do to me?"

He shuddered involuntarily, gripping the wheel a little tighter and stepping on the gas pedal. "Are you asking me to talk dirty to you, Sidekick?"

"Talk?" Chloe asked, leaning closer and breathing hotly against his neck, "no, talking really has nothing to do with what I have in mind."

Oliver sucked in a breath at her nearness, the car squealing around the corner and heading for his garage. He quickly pressed the garage opener button. "No?"

"No," Chloe told him, glancing out of the corner of her eyes and looking as he pulled into the garage then smirking, "I much rather," she told him, sliding her hand up and cupping him through his pants, "you _show_ me."

He jumped as her hand slid over his groin. "Christ," he hissed, parking the car quickly and shutting off the engine.

"So we made it," she told him, reaching for the remote and activating the alarm like he had the previous night before turning her attention to him again, "now why don't you sit back, relax, and think of ways to 'get back at me'?" She suggested, moving her hands to undo his pants.

"I already have several in mind," he assured her, his breathing a little unsteady. "But sitting back and relaxing wasn't exactly on that list."

"Too bad," Chloe told him as she undid the zipper on his pants, "it is on mine."

Oliver's eyes widened just a little as it began to dawn on him what she meant. "Chloe--you don't have to--"

"I know," she smiled, leaning closer and pressing her lips to his for a long moment as she slid her hand inside of his boxers, "but I really _want_ to."

He kissed her back, squeezing his eyes shut tight as her hand slid around him. His heart was beating rapidly. "Not in a position to argue."

"Good," she whispered, keeping her eyes on him for a moment and chewing on her bottom lip as she pulled him out of his boxers and ran her hand slowly over his length. Sure, she had done that before, but she had never done it to someone who actually appreciated it.

He opened his eyes to look at her, reaching out and touching her face, tucking some hair behind her ear. He shivered involuntarily as she touched him, bracing his other hand against the steering wheel.

She looked at him for a moment then lowered her head, taking a deep breath before running her tongue slowly over his tip.

Oliver's fingers curled around the steering wheel as he drew in a shuddering breath. It had been awhile--a long while since he'd done _this_ with anyone. And the fact that it was happening now with Chloe amazed him.

Chloe couldn't help but smirk at his reaction, she wished she could watch him but she knew that that would be impossible in this position, so she just focused on wrapping her lips around him and moving her hand down against his base as she sucked him into her mouth. She wanted him to feel amazing, but she also wanted him to relax and she wanted to be the one responsible for causing him to let go completely.

As her mouth closed over him, his head dropped back against the headrest behind him, his eyes rolling back in his head. "God, Chloe," he whispered, his voice nearly breaking. He slid a hand into her hair, but didn't put any pressure there, just wanting to touch her, to connect with her.

She moaned around him as she felt his body tensing more and more under her as she sped up the movement of her fist and sucked him in her mouth, suddenly really enjoying this, enjoying being able to do this to him with just her mouth.

The vibration of her moan against him made him shudder, and he held his breath, a moan of his own escaping his lips.

Chloe grinned a little against him and pressed her tongue firmly against the underside of his length, pulling her mouth back as she did and taking a deep breath before lowering her mouth again and sucking him deeply into her mouth as she hollowed her cheek and at the same time, moving her hand down to cup his balls.

He shuddered again, feeling himself already getting closer. He slid his fingers down her back, resting his hand there as he gritted his teeth. "Chloe..."

She nodded slightly and with a deep breath, she brushed her teeth against him then sucked on him hard once more as she massaged his balls in hand, willing him to let go because with the way his body was starting to shake, she knew he was close.

"Chloe," he said again, his voice a little more urgent as he tried to warn her, his fingers tightening even more around the steering wheel.

Chloe almost sighed, apparently, he needed the verbal cue, so she pulled her head back, "let go," she whispered to him, glancing up at him before wrapping her lips around him once more, letting her tongue run against the tip and then then underside again as her fingers continued to work him.

Oliver slammed his eyes shut as he shuddered violently, letting go of the last bit of restraint he'd been holding onto, pleasure washing over him in waves as his climax hit. He dropped back against the seat, feeling boneless.

She helped him ride through his orgasm and once he was done, she pulled back slow, clearing her throat a couple of times as she did, as quietly as possible, then moving to sit up.

He opened his eyes to look at her, his expression dazed. "You're incredible," he whispered.

With a deep breath, her face softened and she lifted her hand to cup his cheek, the look on his face as well as his compliment making her chest warm, both with pride and something else that she wasn't read to acknowledge.

Oliver leaned into her touch and lifted his hand to her face, as well, meeting her eyes. Then he leaned in and kissed her slowly, a promise of more to come.


	17. Chapter 17

Chloe felt like the week was dragging and like Thursday night would never come. The week had been better after Lois and Bruce announced their engagement press wise, but not much had changed when it came to the Planet's own staff curiosity. Not to mention, the angry looks Jimmy was still throwing her every time he saw her and the betrayed look on Clark's face.

By Thursday, around six pm, however. Chloe didn't care about any of that. She had gone to Lois' during lunch to finish packing and had already brought her suitcase with her and transferred it to Ollie's car. They would be leaving in less than an hour and going straight to the airport and then they would be taking off to a secluded, private beach in the Caribbean that Oliver had rented out for the weekend.

She was counting down the seconds and she could barely hide her excitement as their trip got closer and closer, so much excitement that she was surprised that the words on her article weren't just a random combination of the words 'Ollie', 'Caribbean', and 'trip'.

A second later, a cup of coffee was set down right in front of her and Lois grinned brightly. "And the countdown is on."

Chloe didn't even bother hiding her bright grin as she looked up at her cousin, "it has been on for three days already."

She chuckled, perching at the edge of her cousin's desk and raising her eyebrows. "I figured."

"But not just mine, I'm sure you're looking forward to Gotham? Seeing your _fiance_ again?" Chloe teased, smiling up at her.

Lois grinned. "Always," she agreed with a nod. "So what do you have planned for your vacation?"

Chloe raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips together, "well, two things, mainly," she held up one finger, "a conversations about the team," she said pointedly, then held up a second finger, "not wearing any clothes."

She smirked in response. "Not surprising on either account, but the latter goes along with my bag of goodies." She held out a small bag toward her cousin.

Blinking, Chloe arched an eyebrow and took the bag carefully, "something tells me I shouldn't open this in public."

"You can peek. It's nothing _that_ bad." Lois grinned.

Chloe looked at her cousin for a moment then started going through the bag, her eyes widening a little as she saw something that was obviously a blindfold, a pair of fluffy handcuffs as well as a book, which as Chloe turned it slightly to read, she shook her head a little, a book on sex tips, "I don't think the book will be necessary," she told her cousin. Not when Ollie was involved.

"Are you kidding? Who doesn't want a book about 101 different sexual positions?" Lois arched an eyebrow.

She squinted a little at Lois then looked at the book again without picking it up, "Ollie probably has all of them memorized?"

"Even _I_ don't have them _all_ memorized, Cuz."

"I'll take a look," Chloe promised, shaking her head and smiling, "thank you."

Lois beamed. "There's a bottle of chocolate sauce in the front pocket," she informed her.

Chloe brightened a little more, "chocolate sauce? Okay, now you've got my interest."

"And I'll leave it up to your imagination what exactly should be done with that." She winked.

She grinned at Lois, "I'll make sure to pick up some ice cream to go with it, maybe strawberries too."

"Now you're talking." She slid off Chloe's desk and leaned down to hug her. "I gotta head out, but you have a fabulous, no-clothes weekend with your billionaire, and rest assured, I'll be doing the same with mine."

Chloe hugged Lois tightly and nodded, "text me when you get to Gotham and tell Bruce I said hi."

"Will do. Let me know when you've landed safely in paradise." Lois grinned and kissed her cheek before pulling away.

She watched her cousin go and grinned, taking a deep breath and making an effort to focus back on her article instead of thinking about all the possibilities Lois' bag could present.

Jimmy waited until Lois had headed up the stairs before he made his way over to Chloe's desk. "Going on a trip?" he sneered.

The grin slipped from her face momentarily but then she firmly placed it back on as she turned to look up at him, "as a matter of fact, yes, I am." She said neutrally.

"With your boy toy?" He smirked at her.

"No," Chloe smiled, tucking hair behind her ear, "with my boyfriend."

His smirk faded, but just a little. "You really think this is going to last, Chloe? You're hardly the kind of woman Oliver Queen really goes for. He's into the _beautiful_ women. How long do you think it'll be before he gets bored with you?"

"Actually, I do think it will last," she told him, leaning back against her chair and looking up at him, "and if it doesn't, at least we're both very happy right now, in fact, I'm way happier with him than I ever was with you for all those years."

"Besides, apparently you've gone blind, Jimmy." Oliver's voice came from behind him, his eyes locked on Chloe. "Chloe is by far the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Jimmy turned around, narrowing his eyes.

Chloe's smiled turned into a real one as she held Oliver's gaze over Jimmy's shoulder and she moved to stand up, "are you ready to go?" She asked him, ignoring Jimmy completely.

He smiled back at her and held his hand out to her. "Let's get out of here."

She shut her computer off quickly then grabbed both her purse and the bag Lois had given her before taking his hand with her free one, "hope you have a good weekend," she told Jimmy as she walked past him then smiled up at Ollie, "I know we will."

"Most definitely," Oliver agreed, grinning as he led her away from Jimmy, squeezing her hand.

* * *

He lay beside her in bed, his heart still beating rapidly in his chest, skin tingling from every place she had touched. He turned so he was lying behind her, draping an arm around her stomach and kissing her shoulder softly as he shut his eyes. "Incredible," he murmured.

Chloe sighed happily and slid her hand over his, holding on to his hand tightly as she pulled his arm around her, "yes you are," she said with a smile.

"I was talking about you." A smile touched his mouth as he buried his face against her hair.

She shivered and brought his hand up to her lips, kissing the back of it, "well, I was talking about you." It was about as good as a conversation she could make after he blew her mind over and over again.

"Could just talk about _us_ ," he suggested.

"Mm," she murmured, turning in his arms so she was facing him, "okay."

Oliver smiled, pulling her closer to him and kissing her forehead. He slid his hand up and down her back. "We'll have to venture into town for food soon."

Chloe grinned softly and kissed him, "you mean you're not going into the ocean to hunt our food for us?" She teased, brushing her nose against his.

"Is that what you'd prefer?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and kissing the corner of her mouth.

"Hm," she considered then shook her head, grinning mischievously, "it's awesome that you _could_ , but I rather you spend your energy on _other_ things."

He grinned, too. "I'd rather spend my energy on other things, too," he responded, tickling her lightly.

She squirmed away from him and laughed softly, "glad we agree."

Oliver met her eyes, chuckling softly at the sound of her laughter. He reached up and tucked some hair behind her ear, his thumb brushing gently over her cheek. "You _are_ beautiful, Chloe."

Chloe paused and smiled, turning her cheek into his touch a little and blushing lightly, "thank you."

A soft smile graced his lips and he leaned in, kissing her tenderly.

She kissed him back and wrapped her arm around him, breaking the kiss a moment later, "should we go find clothes, then?"

"Hmm." He rested his forehead against hers. "I don't know. I think they look better on the floor." He grinned at her.

"I can't exactly go into town wearing the sheets, Ollie," she teased, smiling and brushing her nose against his.

Oliver kissed her again. "True. Can't have all the other guys on the island ogling you," he murmured. "Not that clothes will stop them."

"Yeah?" She raised her eyebrows, "what about all the women who will be throwing themselves at you? That's much more likely to happen."

"I don't know about that." He kissed her collarbone. "Besides, I have you to protect me from them."

"Well," she shivered a little, "I have you to protect me from them too. And you are a superhero."

Oliver paused at that, grimacing involuntarily. "I'll keep you safe," he whispered.

Chloe paused too at the grimace and took a deep breath, shaking her head and kissing him softly, "don't shrug off the title you deserve."

He closed his eyes for a moment, kissing her shoulder and then sitting up slowly. "So what are you hungry for?" he asked. "Obviously seafood's a big option here."

She sighed softly as he pulled away then sat up too, "yeah, that works."

Oliver nodded a little, rising to his feet and tugging on his boxers and then a pair of jeans. He picked up her clothes and handed them to her with a soft smile.

Chloe took the clothes and held his gaze as she stood up, "thank you."

"Welcome," he said softly.

She slid her underwear on then pulled her dress over her head, running her hands over her hair, she had to talk to Ollie soon, but she didn't want to ruin their trip or make him feel bad so she had to be careful about it.

He watched her intently. "Wow," he murmured.

Chloe blinked her thoughts away and turned to look at him when he spoke, "what?"

"Would it be creepy of me to say I like watching you get dressed?" A small smile tugged at his mouth.

"Oh," she blinked again, looking down at herself then smiling a little as she looked back at him, "only if you like watching me dress better than you like watching me undress?"

He grinned. "I like _helping_ you undress," he informed her, moving toward her.

"So the stripping thing not for you?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. 

He paused in his tracks, his eyes widening slightly at the question. "I wouldn't say _that_..."

"Yeah?" Chloe asked, cocking her head and keeping her eyes on him.

"As long as it's a private show," he murmured. "The public kind never did anything for me."

"Oh, c'mon," she teased, smirking, "it must have when you were like... fifteen."

He rested his hands on her hips, raising his eyebrows. "I'm sure it would have back then if I'd seen any."

"You and Bruce never sneaked out of school to go to a strip club?" She asked, raising her eyebrows, "I'm shocked," she told him, placing her hands over his arms.

He grinned. "We pulled a lot of crap, but that wasn't one of the stunts."

Chloe looked at him for a moment and smirked, "look forward to hearing about said stunts."

He chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you do," he teased, dipping his head and kissing her. "Maybe after dinner."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again, "promise?"

Oliver smirked, kissing her again, as well. "Chloe, I'm pretty sure if you asked me to promise you the moon right now, I'd find a way to get it for you," he teased.

"Well, sure, because there's a possibility I'll strip for you at some point in the future," she teased, brushing her nose against his, "but do you _mean_ it?"

He lifted a hand to her cheek, pulling away just enough to gaze at her. "More than you know," he said softly.

Her heart skipped a beat at the unexpected look on his face as she held his gaze, she didn't know what to say so she just kissed him deeply.

Oliver kissed her back without hesitation, then smiled softly at her and took her hand. "Come on, Professor. You're going to need food to keep your strength up this weekend," he informed her.

She slid her fingers through his and squeezed his hand, "we both are."

He smiled at her and led the way out of the beach house he'd rented for them for the weekend.

* * *

Chloe laughed softly and shook her head, "I can't even imagine what that will be like, I'm betting Lois will want like, a bright red wedding dress, just to give the General a heart attack." She told Oliver as she sipped on her wine, relaxing as she watched the waves hitting the sand from the porch of the small restaurant they had chosen for dinner.

He grinned at that and picked up a strawberry from his plate. "Try this."

She raised her eyebrows a little and leaned in, taking a bite off of the strawberry and raising her eyebrows, "wow..."

Oliver leaned in and kissed her, grinning again as he pulled away. "I agree."

Smirking a little, she nodded, "it actually has a lot more flavor than our strawberries."

"Tropical strawberries. They're like magic," he teased, finishing the strawberry off himself.

"We should bring some of them back with us," she asked, smirking.

"Smuggling food back into Metropolis. You thrill seeker." He smirked back at her.

"Oh," Chloe grinned and shook her head, "I meant back to the house."

"My mistake. We definitely should. I do believe that there's a can of whipped cream in the fridge, too." He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Well and we do have that chocolate sauce Lois gave me," she told him, leaning closer and brushing her nose against his.

Oliver's eyes darkened a little. "I suddenly find myself hungry for dessert," he murmured.

"Dessert does sound good right now," she agreed, smirking slowly.

"You realize... _you're_ dessert, right?" He smirked back at her.

"I'd be sad if I wasn't, big bad wolf," she teased, grinning.

Oliver grinned and rose to his feet, holding his hand out to her. "Let's get out of here."

She grinned back at him and took his hand, "what about the strawberries?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

Winking at her, he picked up the bowl of strawberries and met her eyes. "I think we're good."

Chloe grinned at him and shook her head, "okay, lets get back then."

Nodding, he followed her, completely unaware of the patrons inside watching the news report about the approaching tropical storm.

Chloe didn't notice anything either as they made their way out the door, "have you been here before?"

"Not to this island," he said, shaking his head.

"How does it compare to the other ones?" She asked quietly, squeezing his hand.

"This is definitely my favorite," he told her without hesitation, smiling at her.

Rolling her eyes a little, she shook her head and pulled her hair behind her ear, "thanks, for agreeing with this and for bringing me."

"Hey, I'm serious." He tugged her closer to him.

She smiled a little and leaned into him, "well, it's my favorite too," she told him, smiling a little.

"Good." Oliver grinned, kissing her cheek and leading her back and to the beach house.

"So do you think we will actually make it out to the beach tomorrow?" She asked as they walked, trying not to think about what that exchange meant.

"Assuming we don't sleep all day." He glanced at her sideways, still grinning.

"Sleep all day? Why would we do that, Ollie? I mean, it's pretty early still and I'm sure we'll go to bed when we get back, it's not like we have much else to do..."

He smirked. "You're funny. You know, if you ever get tired of the whole Watchtower slash Daily Planet double life, you'd make a great stand-up comedian," he teased.

Chloe grinned softly and leaned closed, kissing his cheek then biting on it lightly, "I don't see myself getting tired of either, so I think we're good."

He groaned involuntarily. "You realize it's still daytime right?"

"Yeah? So? It's going to get dark soon enough, I mean, look over there," she said, pointing to the horizon.

"Yeah, but there are people not far away and we still have a walk before we get back to the house." He glanced at her, raising his eyebrow.

"Your point? We're in Central America, people don't care about PDA," she teased, tugging on his hand.

"What I have in mind is more than a little PDA," he informed her with a smirk.

Chloe smirked and raised her eyebrows, "well, that's hardly my fault."

"Actually, it's completely your fault. Remember the other night in my car?"

"Oh," she raised her eyebrows and cocked her head, "are you sure you wanna complain about _that_?"

"I'm not complaining," he told her with amusement. "But I hope you're ready for that turnabout."

"I'm ready," she assured him, squeezing his hand, "bring it on, Queen."

Wordlessly he handed her the bowl of strawberries.

Raising her eyebrows, she didn't take it, " _now_?"

Oliver chuckled and waited for her to take the bowl, raising his eyebrows.

Chloe hesitated a little then took the bowl and raised her eyebrows right back, watching him carefully.

"Trust me," he said softly.

"Normally? I do. Right now, I don't know if I should," she teased, watching him.

He grinned at that, and without warning, he swept her up into his arms.

She gasped and did her best to hold on to the strawberries and make sure her dress wasn't showing anything it shouldn't at the same time. "What are you doing?"

Oliver grinned brightly at her. "Carrying you back," he informed her.

"Ollie, we're still pretty far out," she told him, "you don't have to do that."

He rolled his eyes. "I think I can handle it."

"Okay..." she told him, watching him, "although, I fail to understand how this is payback."

"Oh, this isn't payback," Oliver assured her, smirking again.

"What is it, then?" She asked, raising her eyebrows and watching him, still holding on to the strawberries but wrapping her other arm around his neck.

He chuckled. "Have some patience," he teased.

Cocking her head, she slid her hand into his hair, "do you know me at _all_?"

"Oh, I know. Asking you to be patient is like asking Bart not to eat Mexican food for a month." He grinned.

Chloe grinned too, it was the first time she heard Ollie bring up one of the team members, especially Bart, on his own since they started talking again, "exactly, you should know better than that."

He leaned in and kissed her softly. "Let's just say....you'll enjoy it."

"That's not even a question, but not even a small spoiler?" She asked, smiling up at him.

"A spoiler?" He raised his eyebrows.

"You know, a hint, a preview of what's to come," she told him, grinning.

Oliver laughed softly. "I don't think there's anything appropriate I can show you in public as a spoiler."

She couldn't help but grin as he laughed, she lifted her head and kissed the corner of his mouth, "you're no fun," she told him then paused and looked up at the sudden sound of a thunder.

He looked up, as well. "Better hurry," he murmured, quickening his steps.

"I don't know," Chloe told him, looking up, "rain might be interesting..."

Oliver smirked. "Shower has the same basic effect, but we're a lot less likely to get struck by lightening."

"Not nearly as adventurous, Ollie," she told him, smirking.

"Not when it comes to your life," he responded.

"My life is perfectly safe," she assured him, leaning in and brushing her nose against his.

"And I intend to keep it that way." He kissed her softly, flinching involuntarily when another loud clap of thunder rattled in the near distance.

Chloe made a face at the loud thunder and pulled back, looking over at the source of the noise, "yeah, that doesn't sound good."

"Good thing we're almost there." He nodded ahead, toward the beach house, kicking sand up behind him as he walked.

She looked around as they got closer to the house and smiled as there was no one in the area, she leaned in closer and pressed her lips to his neck, "close enough?"

He groaned softly, tightening his grip on her just a little. "Wicked woman," he murmured.

Grinning, she kissed his neck then wrapped her lips around one spot, sucking on it.

"Payback," he warned softly, kicking the front door open after he unlocked it with one hand.

She just grinned more and sucked on the spot harder, nibbling on it a little.

Oliver shut the door behind them, turning the lock and heading straight for the bedroom.

Chloe pulled her mouth back after a long moment and looked up at him, grinning as she adjusted the strawberry bowl in her hand, "so, what was that about payback?"

He smirked at her. "Might want to set the bowl down," he said softly, his mouth against her ear.

She shivered then reached down and placed it on the bedside table before looking up at him and biting down on her bottom lip, "can you tell me now?"

"Oh, no," he answered, shaking his head slowly and laying her down on the bed. "Now I can _show_ you."

With a deep breath, she looked up at him, "looking forward to seeing what you've got, Mr. Queen."

Oliver flashed her a smile. "Good. Because you haven't seen anything yet."

"You mean _today_ , or in general?" She asked, smirking then stilling when another thunder hit and the entire house shook.

"In general," he promised, glancing up momentarily. Then he winked at her. "You stay right there." He headed out of the room.

Chloe raised her eyebrows a little and cocked her head, "leave me here too long and I'll start without you," she told him.

He returned a moment later, holding the can of whipped cream in one hand and the chocolate sauce in the other. "You were saying?"

Grinning slowly, she raised her eyebrows and sat up a little, "now we're getting somewhere."

Oliver grinned back at her, kicking the bedroom door shut and stepping out of his shoes. He set the whipped cream and the chocolate sauce on the nightstand, then reached down and carefully slid her shoes off, as well, dropping them to the floor with his own.

Chloe watched him and started pulling her dress up slowly, a smirk firm on her lips.

"Tease," he said lightly, unbuttoning his shirt.

"You're the one with the whipped cream and the chocolate sauce and you're calling _me_ a tease?" She asked, grinning.

"Oh, I'm not going to tease," he assured her, slipping his shirt off.

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, staring up at his chest as he exposed it, "you should never wear a shirt."

Oliver grinned at that. "Keep that up and we just might not make it out of bed the rest of the weekend, Chloe."

"I thought that was the point, Oliver," she told him, biting down on her bottom lip.

His eyes darkened a little and he slid his body over hers slowly, dipping his head to kiss her.

Chloe kissed him back hungrily, and wrapped her arms around him.

After a moment, he pulled away from her, sliding her dress up slowly, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

She held his gaze and lifted her back a little for him to pull her dress higher, but at that moment, there was another ground shaking thunder and all of the sudden, the loud noise of glass shattering.

"What the--" he began, startled and quickly covering her with his body to shield her from the flying glass.

Chloe gasped and closed her eyes tightly, turning her head away and tightening her arms around Ollie.

He quickly rolled them off the bed to get to lower, safer ground. "Did we miss something about a hurricane?" he asked loudly, looking down at her with wide eyes.

"I don't know," she said, her eyes just as wide as she pulled the covers from the bed and over them as well as she could, the house shaking every time another thunder hit, "are you hurt?"

"I'm all right," he told her, gazing at her. "Are _you_ hurt?"

"I'm okay," she told him, wincing as the thunders became louder and louder.

Oliver nodded slightly and glanced toward the window. "We need to get into the center of the house, away from the windows."

Chloe couldn't help but smile a little at his boy scout ways, "c'mon," she shifted under him, "I think the bathroom will be the safest place."

He scooped her up into his arms, wincing as something flew by his head.

She winced too, frowning as something else flew by them and just as she was about to ask him if he was okay, something hit the back of her head, hard.

"Chloe?" He looked down at her as he carried her toward the bathroom.

Her vision got blurry for a second but even as she laid her head down at his shoulder, she had already blacked out.

Oliver quickly shut the door to the bathroom behind him and laid her down gently on the floor, reaching his hand up to touch her head and paling a little when it came away with blood on it. "Oh God," he whispered.


	18. Chapter 18

He was exhausted, his muscles tired and sore from helping remove debris from the storm for the better part of the night. Raking a hand through his hair, he wove his way through the crowded hospital corridors and to Chloe's room. He knew she was all right because he hadn't left her side until the doctors had assured him she had a minor concussion. And then she'd all but kicked him out, telling him that other people were going to need his help and she'd be fine.

Chloe was already dressed by the time he got back to her and she was already out of the bed, the only reason she had stayed in the hospital was because she didn't know what condition the rental house was going to be in and she didn't know if Ollie had his phone on him so she didn't want him to worry that she had disappeared. She wasn't surprised that he seemed exhausted by the time he got back, "hey."

His eyes widened a little. "Should you be up?"

"Yeah," she told him, smiling softly and walking up to him, "they already cleared me, I just didn't wanna leave so you wouldn't have to go looking for me."

"They're sure?" He lifted a hand to the back of her head gently. "There was a lot of blood, Chloe."

Chloe winced, "I'm fine, it's just sore," she assured him, "are _you_ okay?"

He hesitantly kissed her forehead. "I'm okay," he said softly.

She closed her eyes for a moment then looked up at him, suddenly worried, "how does it look out there?"

Oliver drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "A lot of people lost houses, but...it could've been a lot worse. So far they haven't found any...bodies." His voice was quiet and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Good," she said quietly, brushing her nose against his, "should we call the others?"

"I don't think anyone here's in a position to turn down extra help." He nodded a little.

Chloe nodded slightly, "okay, why don't we get back and give them a call?"

Oliver slid his arm around her waist, kissing her forehead once more. "You're absolutely sure you're all right?" The worry in his voice was genuine and raw.

"I'm sure," she told him, wrapping an arm around him, "I've had plenty of concussions before, I'd know," she told him, smiling a little even as her chest tightened on the look of his face.

He shut his eyes for a moment, hugging her back gently.

She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his just as gently as he was hugging her, "c'mon, you need to get some rest."

"It scared me," he said softly.

Chloe's chest tightened even more and her face softened then she nodded a little, "I'm sorry." She whispered, turning and wrapping both of her arms around him.

He shut his eyes again, letting out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. "There was so much blood," he murmured.

"Ollie," she said quietly, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, "I'm okay, look at me."

Oliver took a deep breath and pulled back to look at her silently.

"Everything is okay," she whispered, touching his face gently as she watched him closely, "I'm okay, thanks to you."

He leaned into her touch, then turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand. "Did they give you any pain killers or anything?"

"Yeah, they gave me some of the not so strong ones," she told him quietly, keeping her eyes on him.

Oliver nodded a little. "All right. Let's get out of here."

Chloe nodded too and kissed him softly before reaching for his hand, "hopefully it was just the window that shattered with the storm?" She half said, half asked as they started out of the hospital room.

"I don't know," he admitted, shaking his head. "I guess we'll see."

"Yeah," Chloe agreed quietly as they walked and then all of the sudden a small, elderly woman walked up to them and started speaking really fast to Oliver in Spanish, Chloe just stared and she could pick up words here and there and she could tell she was thanking him and then she followed where the woman was pointing at and could see a small boy being checked out by the nurses, Chloe could only guess he was her grandchild.

Oliver smiled at her, nodding slightly and watching her point into the room before he lifted a hand to wave at the little boy, who smiled shyly and ducked his head.

Chloe grinned softly at the exchange and squeezed Ollie's hand, watching as the woman said something else and smiled before patting Ollie's shoulder then disappearing back into the room.  
He drew in a breath and looked at Chloe, squeezing her hand back. "Come on."

She smiled softly up at him and nodded, not saying anything until they were out of the hospital, "guess you can't help but become a celebrity everywhere you go, huh?" She teased quietly.

A wry smile touched his lips and he shook his head a little. "Funny."

"Hey, at least these people recognize you for who you _really_ are," she told him quietly, keeping her eyes on him.

"I just helped her remove some debris to get him out of his crib. Wasn't a big deal."

"Yes, it was, Ollie, if it wasn't for you, today would have had a different outcome for that family," she told him quietly.

He paused at that, glancing at her sideways for a moment. "I know what you're trying to do," he said just as quietly.

"I'm not trying to do anything," she told him, "just pointing out facts."

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her.

Chloe took a deep breath, "it's who you _are_ , Ollie. You can't keep pretending otherwise."

He was silent for a moment. "I'm doing what anyone would do, Chloe."

"No, Ollie, I have no doubt there are a lot of people out there who wouldn't have done any of it, just like they don't go out every night and do what _you_ do." She said seriously, "just because something went wrong _once_ , it doesn't erase everything that has gone right."

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face. "Chloe, I appreciate what you're trying to do. I really do. But let's just...focus on getting you back so you can rest and recover."

"There's been enough focus on me lately," she told him seriously, "we've solved _my_ problems, you have solved my problems, now it's time you let me help you with yours."

"Chloe..." He shook his head.

"No." She said firmly, "I'm not going to just sit back and pretend there isn't anything wrong, I've done enough of that in the past two years."

He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I get what you're saying, Chloe. I really do. But I don't think this is the right time to discuss it."

Chloe watched him for a moment then nodded, taking a deep breath, "okay, we'll talk about it later. You need some food and you need to get some rest."

"So do you," he said quietly.

"I will after I give the boys a call," she told him just as quietly. 

Oliver nodded and fell silent as they walked back toward the beach house.

* * * 

He was in the process of sweeping up shards of broken glass in the bedroom when the gust of wind hit him, signalling Bart's arrival. He glanced up, nodding at the younger man. "Thanks for coming."

Bart looked around for a moment then nodded, "yeah, are you guys okay?"

"Chloe has a mild concussion," he said softly. "But she'll be fine."

"Oh," Bart nodded a little and stared up at Oliver, "what did you need help with?"

Oliver shook his head a little. "Not me. Chloe figured the people here could use all the help they could get," he told Bart.

Bart's face fell a little but he nodded, "yeah, okay, I guess I should get started on that then."

He caught the look on Bart's face. "I just--I meant I'm okay, Bart. I'm glad you're here to help." His voice was quiet.

"Yeah," Bart nodded again, "Vic and AC said that if I needed help I could just go pick them up, so I guess I should just go take a look around and see how bad it is."

Oliver nodded, as well, watching him. "Good, that's...that's good. Thank you for coming."

"I'll stop by and let you guys know," Bart told Oliver, straightening up a little, "get some rest man, you look like crap."

A smile tugged at his lips at that. "Thanks, Bart."

"Yeah," Bart smiled a little before vanishing.

Chloe had been taking a shower and she was sure she'd heard voices, but of course, she had no clothes in the bathroom so she just stayed there until she was sure everything was quiet, "Ollie?" She called cautiously as she poked her head outside.

"You okay?" Oliver poked his head into the bathroom, a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah," she wrapped the towel around herself, "I just didn't wanna come out without making sure we were alone because all my clothes are in the bedroom."

"Bart was here. He went to check out the rest of the island." He paused. "I'll bring you some clothes just in case he shows back up."

"I thought I heard voices," she said with a nod, "thank you."

He smiled faintly, nodding back at her and disappearing. He returned a few moments later with some of the clothes she'd packed. "I guess I should've brought your suitcase so you could pick out your own clothes."

"It's okay," she assured him as she took one of the dresses from him, "I was planning on wearing this anyway."

"You were?" Oliver shifted his gaze from the green dress he'd picked out to look up at her.

"Yeah," she smiled a little, "it's very comfortable."

"It's pretty," he said softly.

"Well, you're biased," she teased quietly, smiling a little more and keeping her eyes on his face.

"Maybe," he admitted. "But it is a great color on you."

"I do like it a lot," she told him then raised her eyebrows, "are you okay?"

"I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" She asked, frowning a little.

Oliver nodded, drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly. He hesitantly stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him before moving over to her and wrapping his arms around her.

Chloe paused for a moment but wrapped her arms around him too, hugging him tightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, then kissed her forehead lightly. She rubbed her hands over his back slowly, "it's okay, Ollie," she told him quietly.

"I know," he murmured, his arms tightening around her momentarily.

With a deep breath, she pulled her head back and looked up at him, her expression soft but worried, "this really freaked you out, didn't it?" 

He lifted a hand to her cheek. "Yeah, it did," he admitted softly.

Chloe turned her head and pressed a kiss to his palm, holding his gaze as she did, "I'm okay, Ollie."

Oliver held her gaze, as well, nodding slowly.

" _We_ are okay," she told him.

His eyebrows furrowed a little. "I know."

She smiled a little at him and nodded, "then you have nothing to worry about."

He gazed at her for another moment, then leaned in and kissed her softly.

Chloe returned the kiss and rubbed her hand over his back soothingly as she did, trying to comfort him as much as she could.

"I should get back out there," he said quietly.

"No," she told him quietly, pulling back enough to look at him, "you need to take a shower and get some rest."

Oliver sighed softly, knowing she was right. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He nodded a little. "All right."

She relaxed a little and nodded a little, kissing him once more, "do you need anything?"

"You're gonna rest too, right?"

"Yeah," she agreed, reaching up and brushing her fingers through his hair, "I'll wait for you."

"Thanks," he murmured, kissing the inside of her forearm lightly.

With a deep breath, she watched him but didn't pull away, "just call me if you need anything," she told him quietly, it wasn't what she really wanted to say, but she wasn't sure what she _did_ want to tell him or how to comfort him.

He met her eyes once more. "I will. I won't be long," he said softly.

"Okay," she told him in a whisper, kissing him once more before finally pulling away, the green dress still in her hand. 

Oliver watched her go, then rubbed a hand over his face as she shut the door behind her. He undressed quickly and climbed into the shower, hissing a little as the hot water stung a couple of cuts he hadn't even realized he'd gotten. He glanced down and exhaled slowly. Things had turned out okay. 

It could have been a lot worse. 

But he wasn't sure the mental image of Chloe laying in his arms, blood flowing free from her head would leave him anytime in the near future.


	19. Chapter 19

They hadn't managed to leave the island until Sunday morning due to weather issues, luckily, the tropical storm hadn't turned into a hurricane and although there was some destruction of property, there had been no deaths as far as they could tell and between Ollie, Bart and the firemen, they seemed to have helped everyone who had been injured.

Bart had stopped by for about fifteen minutes the previous evening before going back to Central City where AC and Vic were and although she had looked concerned about Oliver, Chloe promised him they'd talk soon and they left it at that.

They had taken off about half an hour ago and since they were both exhausted still, they went to the back of the plane and laid down on the small bed in the back, arms around each other, and it hadn't taken them more than fifteen minutes to fall asleep.

Oliver hadn't been asleep more than an hour before the dreams began. He shifted in bed, his eyebrows furrowing and his breath hitching as the images passed through his mind. Bart, lying in a pool of blood, eyes open and lifeless as he stared at Ollie. Then Chloe, lying in his arms, body limp, blood pooling around her too.

Chloe felt him moving in his sleep and tightened her arm around him a little in a half-conscious state.

His eyebrows furrowed even more and he turned away from her unconsciously, shuddering a little. "Chloe," he whispered, his voice breaking. "No."

In his dream, he cradled her to his chest, looking from her to Bart and back again, stroking some hair back out of her face, his eyes filling with tears. "I'm so sorry."

Her eyes fluttered open as she heard him mumbling, she opened her eyes a little wider and frowned when she saw tears rolling out of his closed eyes, "Ollie?" She whispered.

His breathing hitched again and he flinched as the sound of gunfire echoed in his head.

"Ollie," she shook him a little, "wake up," she told him, sitting up slightly.

"Don't," he murmured, burying his face against the pillow.

Chloe reached to cup his face, "Ollie, wake up," she repeated, "it's just a bad dream."

Oliver inhaled sharply as her light touch woke him from the nightmare, shuddering involuntarily as he sat up.

Her eyes widened even more as she sat up too, staring at him, since they started sleeping together, she had noticed him stirring in his sleep a couple of times, but not like this and definitely not this strongly, "Ollie, it's okay," she told him, hesitating before touching his shoulder.

He shut his eyes tightly for a long moment, trying to gather his bearings as he rubbed his hands over his face wearily, swallowing hard. "Sorry," he told her.

"Hey," she shook her head, shifting closer and rubbing his back, "it's okay, are you okay?"

He nodded slightly, letting out a breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."

She watched him closely for a second then nodded, shifting even closer and kissing his temple and hugging him to her.

Oliver leaned back into her for a moment, resting his head against hers. "How are you feeling? How's your head?"

"I'm okay," she assured him, lifting a hand to run her fingers over his hair, "what were you dreaming about?"

He was silent for a moment, his heart still thumping heavily against his chest. "You really want to know?" His voice was quiet. Almost inaudible.

"Of course," she told him in a whisper, kissing his temple once more and pulling him so he was half laying against her.

He shut his eyes once more, his chest tight. "You were gone," he murmured. "You and Bart. You were both..."

"Oh," she whispered quietly, "but we're not, Ollie. We're both okay."

"You could've been," he said just as quietly.

"Don't do this to yourself, Ollie," she whispered to him, "it doesn't matter what could have happened, I'm here and Bart is safe in Central City."

"But it _does_ matter what could have happened, Chloe." He opened his eyes, turning his head to look at her. "Because it could happen again."

"It could," she agreed, brushing her fingers over his hair, "it could happen to me, it could happen to Bart, it could happen to _you_ , but if we live every day thinking of what could happen, we wouldn't really be living, Ollie."

"He got shot because of me." He looked away.

She stilled for a second and took a deep breath, "is that what you think?"

"It's what's true, Chloe." He pulled away from her, rising to his feet.

"No, Ollie," she dropped her hands to her lap and sighed deeply, "what is true is that he was protecting you, because you're a _team_ and you're supposed to help each other, watch each other's backs and you would have done the exact same thing if the situation was reverse."

"It's different," he stated, shaking his head. "It's not the same thing."

"Okay," she took a deep breath, "explain the difference to me."

Oliver turned to look at her. "I don't have their abilities, Chloe." He gazed at her intently. "I don't have _any_ abilities at all. Me going out there with them, on missions? I'm a liability to them. I hold them back."

"You're their _leader_ , Oliver. Abilities have nothing to do with this, how many times did _you_ rescue one of them? I doubt you can even count all the times you got them out of a tight spot before, we all have our weaknesses, but that's why we're a _team_ , so we can complement one another, and they _need_ you, just like you need them." She said firmly, standing up too.

He blew out a breath, shaking his head. "They're always going to feel like they have to protect me because I can't do the things they can. And that's always going to put them in unnecessary danger. I'm still helping, I'm still part of the team, it's just in a different capacity than it used to be."

"No, you're hiding from what you _really_ should be doing because you are second guessing yourself and your abilities," she told him, "this has nothing to do with them, they _want_ you to get back out there with them, but you're scared and you need to stop asking yourself what-ifs and go out there and do what you are _so_ amazing at!"

"I'm not hiding," he said defensively. "I'm still patrolling. I haven't stopped being Green Arrow. But maybe some of us are better off working solo."

"Some are, some like Clark who think _he_ needs to do everything and everyone else is beneath him," she said sharply, "but the guys _need_ you, Oliver, and by doing this, you're being as selfish as Clark."

He flinched at that accusation. "I don't think anyone's beneath me, Chloe!"

"No," she stared up at him, "you think _you_ are beneath _them_ and that is just as big a lie, Oliver!" Her voice rose a little, "don't you get everything you've done for them? If it wasn't for you, Victor would still be running around, brokenhearted, trying to break into LuthorCorp labs so he could keep himself running, AC would probably still be in jail for helping sea creatures out of their captivity and Bart would still be stealing because it's the only thing he knew how to do to survive!"

Her jaw tightened, "they are who they are, they are _heroes_ because of _you_ , because _you_ believed in them and because _you_ gave them a place where they felt like they really belonged."

"And _I_ am the one who committed cold-blooded murder!" he said heatedly, not even thinking about his words. "They _are_ better than me!"

"You murdered the man who treated _every single one of us_ ," she said, just as heatedly, "as freaks!"

Oliver stared at her, his heart beating heavily in his chest. He rubbed a hand over his face, turning away from her.

"You can't keep blaming yourself for doing what the rest of us weren't brave or strong enough to do, Oliver. You can't keep ignoring all the amazing things you have done for all of us, myself included, and you can't keep pretending you're not the hero you are." She said, still tightly, but her voice was lower now.

He shut his eyes, his shoulders slumping. "I thought I was okay," he said quietly. "When I left town. I thought I was okay."

"But you're far from it." She said, her voice a lot quieter now.

"That day, in 33.1." Oliver swallowed hard. "I wasn't on my game, Chloe. I hadn't slept well. I was distracted."

"I know you weren't, Oliver and when that happens, no one is going to blame you for sitting that one mission out, but you're _good_ at what you do." She said sincerely, taking a step closer, "and if you want to take things slowly for a while that's fine, but you can't stop altogether, the boys need you out there with them and I can watch over all of you."

He rubbed his hands over his face again, wearily. "What if I screw up again?" he whispered.

"If something goes wrong, it won't be _your_ fault, we'll be in it together, as a team." She said quietly, placing her hand on his shoulder and cocking her head to try and look at his face.

His expression was pained as he looked at her.

Her chest clenched as she saw the look on his face and she took a deep breath, reaching up to touch his cheek, "you don't have to deal with anything alone, Ollie."

Oliver swallowed hard. "I'm not afraid for me," he whispered.

"I know," her face softened a little more, "you take care of us and we'll take care of you."

He hesitated a second, then slid his arms around her, resting his chin atop her head.

Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around him and turned her head up, pressing her nose to his jaw.

He shut his eyes, hugging her just as tightly. "Chloe?" His voice was soft.

"Yeah?" She whispered, opening her eyes but not pulling away to look at him.

Oliver hesitated a moment, sliding his hand into her hair and pulling back to look at her. "I love you," he whispered. "You don't have to say it back. I know this isn't..." He let out a breath. "This isn't the way I wanted to tell you. I just wanted you to know."

Her stomach dropped instantly and her eyes widened, with a deep breath, she searched his eyes, "I love you too." She said in a whisper, "I've been trying to fight it and I know it's too soon, but I've been feeling it for a little while now."

His eyes widened a little, and he looked back at her, startled. He hadn't expected her to say it back. "I know it's soon," he whispered, lifting his hand to her cheek.

She took a deep breath and leaned into his touch, her heart beating fast, "I don't want us to rush into anything but... I do feel the same way."

He nodded slowly, holding her gaze. "I won't treat you the way they did," he said softly.

Her chest tightened and she nodded slowly, "I wouldn't be here if I thought you would ever do that." Chloe paused and took a deep breath, "with you... I really feel like myself."

Oliver leaned his forehead against hers, closing his eyes for a moment. "Good," he murmured.

With a deep breath, she brushed her lips against his softly, "thank you for coming back." She whispered to him.

He kissed her back just as softly, then paused as he realized something he hadn't before. He hadn't come back to set things right with _Clark_. He'd come back to set things right with _Chloe_.


End file.
